I'll Find You
by Serial-Tea-Drinker
Summary: The Knight's Blood guild has been destroyed by the dark guild Laughing Coffin & Kirito has been taken. After surviving the massacre, Asuna & Yui set off in search of a way to get him back. Will the members of Fairy Tail be able help them rescue Kirito? And what's Asuna's connection with one of Fairy Tail's strongest? Rated T for violence. I do not own Fairy Tail or Sword Art Online
1. Finding Fairy Tail

It's been one month to the day.

One month since our lives were ripped apart.

One month since the guild disappeared.

And one month since he went missing.

"I'll find you... Kirito."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Mommy, I'm hungry," Yui whimpers, tugging at my hand.

I look down into the dark, pleading eyes of my adoptive daughter. She's so good. Never throws a tantrum or shouts no matter how far we walk or how hungry she is. Sure, she complains and whines but she's a kid, it's what they do, but she never wears my patience thin.

I smile down at her, "We'll be in the next town soon. We can get some food there, OK?"

"Ok, Mommy," she beams.

We come to a cliff side and take in the view of a picturesque town below.

I sigh with relief, "This must be it."

"Is that where we're going, Mommy?"

"You bet. That's Magnolia Town. That's where we're hopefully going to find some people who can help us."

"Can we get food first?"

I cringe as I feel my own stomach start to grumble, "I think that would be best."

"My feet hurt," Yui groans, "Can you carry me, please?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely, I guess I can be your noble steed for the rest of the way," I crouch down so she can climb onto my back, "Just try not to hold onto my neck too tightly."

I hook my arms round her legs and we set off again, our empty stomachs driving us to make it into town at a fast pace, being careful on any downhill slopes. It wouldn't be the first time if I tripped and face-planted in the dirt but I'd rather avoid it.

Magnolia is full of life. Streets lined with merchant stalls selling everything from jewellery and clothes to lacrima crystals for a wealth of purposes.

"Pretty," Yui gasps, pointing to a shiny teal and violet communication crystal, sparkling in the sunlight.

"Do you like it?" The man behind the stall asks, "If you want, I can make you a deal?"

"Oh, no thanks, we're just looking," I say, "Let's get some food, Yui, there's a bakery over there."

"Yay, food!" Yui cheers, flinging her arms in the air and throwing me off-balance.

I stumble backwards before regaining posture.

"Phew!" I breathe.

"Sorry, Mommy."

"It's ok, don't worry, just be careful. I don't wanna fall and hurt you."

I push the door of the bakery open with my knee and the smell of freshly baked bread hits me in a glorious wave.

"Wow!" Yui cries, jumping down from my back and rushing to press her face against the glass shielding the cakes and pastries, "It looks so yummy!"

"You're right," I say, unable to stop my mouth from watering as I stare at the beautifully crafted lemon meringue pies and intricately decorated strawberry cakes. My eyes are definitely too big for my stomach, and my wallet for that matter.

"Good afternoon!" A cheerful voice chimes, pulling me out of my sugary trance, "Can I help you with anything?"

"Oh, yes, please. Could I get...," I stare for a moment. I really should set a good example but..., "a slice of strawberry cake... and, what do you want, Yui?"

"I wanna be like you, Mommy!" Yui says with the sweetest smile on her face.

No one with a heart could turn her down.

"Make that two slices of strawberry cake, please."

The woman behind the counter stares at me for a moment, studying my face before looking down at Yui. I know what she's thinking: I'm too young to have a daughter her age. I wonder for a moment whether she's going to say something before it starts to get awkward but she appears to shake it off and continue with our order. She smiles as we swap money for cake and waves us off as we leave the shop.

"Thank you, Mommy," Yui says, looking up at me with cake crumbs already littering her face.

I place my hand on her head, "Don't expect to have cake for dinner every day. Just this once because you earned it for being so good on our long walk, OK?"

Yui nods at me, taking another big mouthful of cake. Thinking about it, we really have walked a long way. I'm surprised neither of us has dropped to the floor. We've only had short breaks between an often uncomfortable sleep on a makeshift bed of leaves. Not tonight, though. Tonight we'll have a soft, warm bed to sleep in with no worrying about wild animals or the sudden weather changes Fiore sometimes has. I take a bite out of my strawberry cake and, oh god, whoever made this needs an award.

I watch the merchants begin to pack away their stalls for the day as the sun makes its way down to the horizon. Oranges, yellows and pinks splash across the sky and my mind wonders to him. He loved to sit and watch the sun set every day. I wonder if he can see it from wherever he is now.

"Mommy, I'm tired," Yui says, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me from my thoughts.

"Yeah, me too," I say, crouching down, "Hop on and we'll go find a hotel."

Without hesitation, she shoves the last of her cake in her mouth and resumes her piggyback position from earlier. I make my way down the street. We can't afford anything fancy but as long as it has a nice bed we can curl up in, I'm sure Yui doesn't care.

"What about that one?" she asks, pointing to a small inn. It looks so much like any other house that I probably would have missed it.

"Good spot, Yui, let's check it out," I reply, "You'll have to get down though."

Without a word of complaint, she slides off my back and grasps my hand. I slowly open the big wooden door and peek inside. A woman sitting behind a desk looks up and motions me to come in.

"Don't worry, we're open," she says.

We step in, letting the door swing shut behind us. I look around at the simple decor; wooden floors with embroidered rugs, caramel-coloured walls with paintings of different landscapes hung almost uniformly round the room. I approach the desk.

"Hi, I was wondering how much you charge for a single room?" I ask, nervously toying with the wallet in my pocket.

"Well, it's 600j per night but if you book three nights we do a discount price of 1500."

I think for a moment. I hadn't really planned any further than getting to Magnolia and I only have 5000j left. Crap.

"I'll book one night for now," I say, producing the 600j from my wallet.

I need to find some jobs, fast. That's why this has to work. I'll beg to get into this guild if I have to. They're the strongest there is and that's exactly what I need.

"Here you go," the woman hands me a key, "Your room is upstairs and to the right. Enjoy your stay and let me know if there's anything you need."

"Thank you," I bow slightly.

"Thank you!" Yui echoes.

The room is small but cosy. There's a fair-sized bed with enough pillows to stack to the ceiling and set of drawers to store your stuff in, not that we have anything. There's even a small stocked bookshelf and cosy chairs to curl up on. I put my small shoulder bag down on the floor and flop onto the bed.

"This is so soft," I sigh.

Yui jumps onto the bed next to me and I shift so we both have space. She cuddles up to my side and closes her eyes. I stroke her long, black hair, running my fingers through the strands.

"Goodnight, Mommy," she murmurs.

I look down at my beautiful little girl. No, our beautiful little girl. Even in the last month she's been changing. Her abilities are developing more and more every day and she's getting stronger. He should be here with me to watch her grow but someone has prevented that. But I'll find him again, I'll bring him home and we can all be together again.

"Goodnight, Yui."

XXXXXXXXXX

The early morning sunlight shines directly onto my face. I forgot to shut the curtains last night and I'm regretting it so badly right now. I groan and roll over, finding the space where Yui had slept empty. Panicking, I jump up and look around.

"Good morning, Mommy."

Look down on the floor and Yui is laying on her stomach, legs kicking back and forth with her elbows resting either side of a picture book. She smiles up at me.

"Whatcha reading?"

"It's a story about a fairy princess."

"Sounds good."

"I wish I had pretty wings."

"Well, maybe I can make you a set of wings to wear. Would you like that?"

Yui's eyes light up, "Yes, Mommy, thank you!"

"I can't make them just yet though, we need to get all the important stuff done first, like finding a proper place to stay," I tell her.

She nods vigorously. I know I could have suggested wind magic to create the illusion of flying but allowing a seven-year old, especially a talented one, use that kind of magic, would end in a mess. No, I'll stick to dealing with what she has now.

"Mommy, I'm hungry."

"Ok, let's get some breakfast and head to that guild hall!" I beam.

"Yay!"

"Shh," I cover her mouth, "It's still really early so we have to be quiet. We don't want to wake anyone up."

"Sorry, Mommy," she whispers into my hand.

I gather my things and put everything back how we found it when we arrived.

XXXXXXXXXX

In under half an hour we manage to get breakfast from the bakery, something substantial this time, and walk through town to our destination. The building before us looks more like a castle than a guild hall. At least three storeys high with battlements on the second and third and a huge bell tower on the top. Lit torches line the battlement walls and at each corner stands a pillar sporting small banners with the magic council emblem on them. Smack bang in the centre of the entire exterior is a giant, orange embroidered banner with the resident guild mark on it. I look up at the huge, arched gate above me to see the words that confirm I'm in the right place.

FAIRY TAIL

"It's so big!" Yui cries.

"If it wasn't for the sign I would have thought some sort of royalty lived here, not wizards," I say to myself.

"Come on, Mommy, let's go inside!" Yui grabs my hand.

I let her pull me all the way to the big, wooden double door. I place my hand against it and give it a testing nudge. Definitely not locked. I push forward. The inside looks even bigger than the outside, if that's possible. Tables, chairs and benches take up most of the open hall and the rest is filled by a long bar lined with tall stools. The whole place is empty except for two young women, one sitting at the back, brown hair sprawled across the table top as she snoozes and a young woman with shining silver hair standing behind the bar, drying severely over-sized tankards. She looks up as we approach.

"Good morning," she smiles, "Can I get you something?"

The question catches me off-guard. Why didn't she ask who I was or why I'm in a guild hall I don't belong to?

"Do you have juice?" Yui asks.

"Yui, don't you think you should ask me first? I am the one with the money," I remind her.

"Don't worry, the first one is free," the woman says, a smile still plastered on her face.

This is crazy. Is this really the guild hall? I've never had a reception like this. Maybe she's new and doesn't know I'm not a member. But then, how would she know it's the first drink I'll have here?

"Are you sure?" I ask cautiously.

"Of course."

Does that smile ever fall off her face?

Yui hops up onto a barstool and I seat myself beside her. To be honest, I could really do with some caffeine. I'm still tired from our journey.

"Thank you," I say as she pushes a freshly brewed coffee across to me.

"No problem. I'm Mira, by the way," the barmaid says.

"I'm Asuna and this is Yui," I place my hand on my daughters head.

"What a cute name! Are you sisters?"

"Uh, no, she's actually my daughter."

I watch Mira's face, expecting a surprised or negative reaction but it never comes.

"How cute!" she beams, "So what brings you both to Fairy Tail?"

Wow, she didn't even twitch at my statement. For once I don't feel like a spectacle of confusion. I stare at her, caught up in amazement. I must have been staring for a while because Yui pipes up and answers for me.

"Me and Mommy want to join so we can get strong and find Daddy."

"Oh, is he lost?" Mira asks.

"Uh, Yui," I start, reaching into my bag and producing a pad of paper and pencils, "Why don't you sit on that table and draw me something pretty?"

"Ok, Mommy!" she takes the items and skips over to one of the benches.

"Sorry, I don't like to talk about this in front of her," I sigh.

"That's ok, what happened?"

"I don't know how far word has got round but every town I've been to so far has heard about it. Do you know a guild called Knight's Blood?"

"Yes, I have. They were a new guild, right? I heard they got destroyed by Laughing Coffin. Apparently there were only a few survivors and there's still people missing, including their guild master."

"Well, you're looking at two survivors right now."

Mira claps her hands over her mouth. I look down at my hands, not able to look at her. I get the same look every time and I hate it. The horror-filled expression with wide eyes and a paled face.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," she gasps.

"Please, I've had enough sympathy to last me ten lifetimes and I don't want anymore," I say as sincerely as possible, "It's not that I don't appreciate it but I find it creates a negative air that Yui picks up on. She's dealt with too much already."

"I can only imagine," Mira utters, "She mentioned finding her father. Is he one of the people that went missing?"

"Yes, and like she said, we intend to find him. Unfortunately, I can't do it on my own. I refuse to put Yui at risk by finding the dark guild and attempting to carry out a rescue mission alone knowing I'm nowhere near strong enough to even take on one member. I mean," I hesitate as my voice starts to tremble and I start to shake.

Mira places her soft, pale hands over mine, curling her slender fingers round my own. I jump at the contact and look up into her sparkling blue eyes.

"If help is what you need, there are plenty of people in Fairy Tail who will be more than willing to give you that."

The terrible urge to cry is chased away by my surprise. How can she be so sure?

"Mommy, look!" Yui cries, shoving a piece of paper at me.

I take it and look at the drawing. In neat stick figures are three characters: one with long brown hair wearing a grey dress, one with short spiky, black hair wearing a black coat and a smaller one with long, black hair wearing a pale pink dress. In big green letter across the top is the title 'Mommy, Daddy and Me'.

"That's great, Yui," I smile, marvelling at how good her handwriting has gotten, "We'll frame it and hang it up somewhere when we get our own place."

"Quite the little artist you've got there," Mira says, "We have a member who uses art-based magic. He can make his drawings come to life."

"Wow! Mommy, I wanna learn to do that too!"

"Uh, I think we should stick to what you've got already before we try anything else, OK?" I say, laughing nervously.

"Ok," she sighs, looking at her feet, "I'm going to draw something else!"

She rushes back to her seat, taking to the paper with renewed vigour.

"So, if you don't have your own place yet. Where are you two staying?" Mira asks.

"We haven't actually found anywhere in our price range that we can stay in long-term but I'm hoping if we make the cut to get into Fairy Tail, I can get enough jobs to pay for a small apartment."

"Oh, you don't have to worry, there isn't any tests you have to pass to get into our guild. You just need to have a good heart and pure intentions. Doesn't matter if you're strong or weak, old or young, we always have space."

"This place gets better with everything you say. Sounds almost too good to be true and I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't sitting here."

"If you don't mind me asking, how much do you actually have to live on?"

I hesitate. Do I lie? Do I brush it off? Or do I...

"Not much," the words leave my mouth before I can finish thinking.

"Hmm," Mira places a finger on her lower lip, looking thoughtful.

Before she can say anything, a large group of people enter the hall, chattering loudly amongst themselves.

"But Luce, we just got back," a pink-haired boy groans, louder than all the others, "I don't wanna go on another job straight away."

"Well, if you hadn't destroyed an entire building, we wouldn't have had our pay-out cut. I don't have enough for rent and none of the jobs on the board are easy enough to be solo missions," a pretty, blonde-haired girl walking beside him angrily snaps back.

"Well... ugh, fine, we'll pick one later," he replies, rolling his eyes.

"Thank you," she says, breaking off from the group and taking a seat at the bar close to me.

"Morning, Lucy," Mira's smile has returned to her face, "Have fun on your mission?"

"Yeah, it was a blast," she sighs, laying her face on the bar.

"Strawberry milkshake it is then," Mira replies, moving away.

I turn to glance at the young man again. He destroyed a building? Maybe he's the fire mage we heard about a few towns ago, the one that knock down all those. By the sound of it, it's a regular occurrence.

"Mommy, I did another one!" Yui beams, holding up an equally as artistic stick figure drawing as the last. This time there's a woman in a maroon dress with long grey hair standing behind a single brown line. Above her is the word 'Meera'.

"That's a really good one, Yui, are you gunna show Mira?"

"It's for you," she says, reaching up to place it on the bar and slide it across to the barmaid.

"Oh wow!" Mira exclaims with seemingly genuine enthusiasm, "Thank you."

"It's meant to be you."

"You know what, I think it's so good I'm going to stick this on the wall."

Yui's face becomes picture perfect. The wonder and happiness in her eyes rivals anything I've seen over the past few weeks. It fills me with a joy I haven't felt in a while. That special smile of hers, the one reserved for only the greatest of moments, is one of the things that keeps Kirito and me going. I've been here for less than an hour and I already feel this is the best place we've ever found. Yui holds my hand and rests her head against my arm.

"Well, she's adorable," the blonde girl says, lifting her head off bar.

"Isn't she just?" Mira replies, pressing the picture to the back wall of the bar, giving it pride of place above the tower of neatly stacked glasses, "That smile could just melt your heart. I bet that's a rare gem, right, Asuna?"

"It sure is," I say, still basking in the warm, fuzzy feeling it left me in.

"Are you guys new to the guild, I've never seen you before."

"Sort of. We haven't officially joined yet but we're hoping to. I'm Asuna and this is my daughter, Yui."

"I'm Lucy. So, what kind of magic do you use?"

"ALRIGHT THAT'S IT, YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME, ICE PRINCESS?" a voice behind yells.

"YOU BET I DO, FLAME BRAIN!" another shouts in response.

"Oh, great," Lucy groans, laying her head back down on the counter, "Like we didn't get enough destruction in this week already."

"BRING IT!"

"Just another day at the guild," Mira chuckles.

"NO!" a voice screeches, followed by a loud crash.


	2. One of Us

I spin round. Yui stands in front of two young men, one of which is the pink-haired boy and presumably one of the two who'd been shouting. I hadn't even noticed her let go of my hand. Between them is a dark purple, translucent shield. My insides clench, the warm feeling from before leaves in a wave of panic.

"Yui, no!" I cry, rushing to her side, dropping to my knees and protectively wrapping my arms around her.

"Whoa," one of young men, dark-haired and for some reason shirtless, murmurs touching the shield and running his hand across it.

"I'm so sorry," I hang my head low, clutching onto Yui tightly, "Please, forgive her. She doesn't like seeing people fight," my voice shakes as tears well up.

"Mommy, please don't cry," Yui whispers in my ear, placing her hand on my cheek, "I'm sorry."

I lift my head slightly and look at the small crowd all staring at us. Maybe we should leave.

"Hey, don't worry about it," the pink-haired boy approaches us and offers me his hand. Is he serious? He doesn't look in the slightest bit phased, "Come on, let me help you up."

I slowly take his hand and he pulls me to my feet.

"I'm really sorry," I repeat.

"Don't sweat it, we're the ones that should be sorry," he crouches down to Yui's level, "We didn't mean to scare you, little girl, we weren't fighting for real. We were just practicing our magic on each other. We're actually really good friends, aren't we, Gray?"

The dark-haired boy, presumably Gray, is too busy inspecting the dent in the floor left by the shield to pay much attention and just waves his hand dismissively, "Whatever, flame breath."

"Stupid snowflake," he grumbles, turning back to Yui, "Anyway, I'm real sorry. Can you forgive us?"

"Do you promise not to really fight?" Yui asks, staring at him intensely, the same way she stares at Kirito and me when she's asking a promise of us too.

"We promise," he nods, "We'd never send each other to the hospital or anything. Just a friendly fight."

She scrutinises him for a few moments before flashing a smile, "Ok!"

"Natsu!" Lucy growls, appearing beside us, "Way to scare the new members, you idiot!"

Natsu jumps back and holds his hands up, "I apologised and the little girl forgave me so it's all good!"

"And what about Asuna? Did you apologise to her?"

"Of course! Ice princess didn't, though!"

"Mommy," Yui whispers, tugging my sleeve, "Can a boy be a princess?"

How do I even answer that? I don't think I can, "Uh, I'm not really sure."

"GRAY!" Lucy shouts.

Gray continues to pay no attention to anyone until he stands up, looking directly at me, "That's some powerful magic she's got there."

"No kidding," Natsu laughs, "Look at that crater!"

"I can pay for that," I say sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it," Lucy says, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder, "We have a wizard who can manipulate wood so we can have it fixed up in no time."

"So you guys are new, when did you join?" Gray asks.

"We haven't officially joined yet," I say, "I mean, we haven't got our guild marks or anything."

"I can solve that!" Mira appears beside me, holding up a stamp with the guild emblem on it, "Where do you want it?"

I tend to be prepared for most things, even if I haven't pre-planned something, I'm quick to find a solution. But this question, this one simple question for some reason just put a stop to my brain function. The million jewel question. My last guild mark had been on my ankle, but I don't want to go over it and erase that memory. I could get it on my other ankle but all my clothes tend to cover most of my legs. I'd like to be able to show it off. Oh, I know!

"I'll have it here, please," I say, tapping the top of my upper arm, almost on my shoulder.

"Any colour preference?"

Easy.

"Red is my favourite colour so I'll go with that."

Mira holds the stamp to my arm. It glows for a moment and as she moves it away from my skin, it leaves behind the Fairy Tail guild mark in bright red.

"Where would you like yours, Yui?"

Yui looks thoughtful, "I want mine the same as Mommy's!"

"In the same colour?"

"No, I want pink!"

"Alright!"

"Mommy, look!" she squeals, showing me her guild mark, "We match!"

"Yeah, we do!" I smile.

"We match too, Yui," Lucy says, showing the pink guild mark on her hand.

Yui's eyes light up even more. This place, these people, there's so much kindness, so much happiness. What happened with Yui just a moment ago has been forgotten like it was nothing.

Yui. She's smiling. She smiles a lot but today, it's been almost non-stop, she even flashed her special smile. I've spent most of the day feeling at ease, feeling positive and dare I say it, more hopeful than ever.

"Asuna, are you ok?" Mira's voice brings me out of my trance, "You're crying."

I touch my cheeks and feel the wetness of tears. The small group surrounding me stare with worried expressions, like it was hurting them to see such a thing. The same expression Kirito has whenever I do as much as look sad.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just... I... you're all so kind," my voice quivers, threatening a sob.

I look down to hide my face. It's not that people hadn't been kind to me at previous guilds I'd visited, but many had been reluctant to aid me in my goal of finding Laughing Coffin and rescuing Kirito. I'd received so many odd looks for having a daughter, adopted or not, and a few were wary of Yui because they could sense the strength in her abilities: powerful yet not fully under control. I could understand. But Mira had said with so much confidence that the members here will help me.

I feel someone take my hand.

"Why would we be anything else?" Mira says, "As a part of Fairy Tail, you're surrounded by friends and that's what friends do."

"Yeah," Lucy agrees, "And hopefully you'll eventually start to see us as your family because that's what we all are here. One big, crazy family."

That's it, I'm gone. I can't hold it back anymore. I cover my mouth to muffle the sound of my ragged breathing as tears start to cascade down my cheeks only my hand. Mira hands me a tissue to dry my eyes.

"Thank you," I manage to whimper.

"Yay! Happy tears!" Yui cries, raising her arms triumphantly.

I can't help but cough out a small laugh. Sometimes she gives out a little too much information but it's the beauty of her mind, the urge she feels to blurt out the happiness she and others feel. A stark contrast to when anything negative surfaces.

A few more people enter the guild bringing with them more cheerful voices and laughter, a never-ending flow of positive energy.

"It's been a while since you got here, you must be hungry," Mira says, "Go sit down. I'll make you something. First meal is on the house and no arguing about it."

Yui drags Lucy over to sit on the nearby bench where her art supplies are still spread across it, showing off her drawings. I join them, seating myself next to them. Both girls take to the paper, colouring pencils scribbling across the plain pages.

"So, Asuna," Gray says, sitting down opposite me, now wearing clothes, "What kind of magic do you use?"

"I'm a requip mage," I reply, "Weapons only."

"Cool! We have a requip mage here too but she does weapons and armour," Natsu chimes in, pushing Gray over to make room for himself.

"DON'T PUSH ME!" Gray growls.

"Don't start, frostbite," Natsu warns, "I made a promise to Yui that you'd behave yourself."

"Me?!" Gray exclaims, "You're the one that always starts the fights, you idiot!"

"You shouldn't lie," Yui says, looking up from her drawing, "You actually promised that both of you wouldn't fight."

Both boys look at her scornful expression. You should never lie in front of her, she always calls people out on it and the frown that comes with it is both adorable and a little bit scary. She takes it seriously.

"Oh yeah, you're right," Natsu says, rubbing the back of his neck, "Sorry about that."

Yui instantly goes back to her drawing.

"Anyway," Gray continues, "Is there any other magic you use?"

"No, I have quite a few requips so my magic energy levels don't allow for much more than that but maybe if I get stronger, I'll be able to use more."

"What about Yui? Is shield magic all she uses?"

"It's the only physical magic she uses. She also has the ability to sense people's feelings. Not in a way that you can look at a friend and tell whether they're happy or sad though, she can take in those emotions or feelings and express them through herself. Like earlier when I was crying. Her outburst about my happy tears was because I felt so happy that even she couldn't contain it within herself."

"Wow, that's kinda cool," Natsu says.

"It's difficult."

"I can imagine the problems that can cause," Gray says thoughtfully, "I'm sure she'll get the hang of it though. Plenty of places to go and people to practice on."

"I'm not so sure people would want to be target practice. Those shields hurt if you hit them, trust me. Kirito walked into one once and it almost broke his nose."

"Who's Kirito?" Natsu turns his head as if looking for the person in question.

No, I'm not going to bring it up right now, it's not the time. I can't lie but I can bend the truth.

"He's not here yet. What kind of magic do you guys use?"

Gray looks at me for a moment and I pray he doesn't become suspicious of my fast change of subject.

"I'm an ice-make wizard and flame brain here is a fire dragon slayer."

"A dragon slayer? No way!" I've heard of them before but I wasn't sure if it was a real thing or not.

"Yep," Natsu beams, producing a flame in his hands.

"Pretty," Yui says, dropping her pencil and staring at the dancing fire, completely mesmerised, "Can I touch it?"

"Yui, it's fire, it'll burn you," I say, "You should know that."

"But it's magic fire," she argues.

"She's right," Natsu agrees, "I can control what it does so you don't need to worry, it won't hurt her."

Yui swings her legs over the bench and rushes to Natsu's side and sticking her hands straight into the flames. I flinch. I know he wouldn't have lied about it but it's a parent's job to worry.

"He's an idiot but he's good with kids," Lucy reassures me.

"Just don't let him teach her any of that magic, please," I grimace at the thought of Yui wielding the power of fire magic.

"He wouldn't dare, would you, Natsu?" Lucy turns her head to him with eyes that threaten to kill should he provide the wrong answer.

"Of course not," he scoffs, "I'm not stupid, you know."

Gray snickers beside him and earns himself a backwards kick under the table from him.

"Yui has achieved the unachievable, I've never seen them behave so well," Lucy smirks.

"She has a way of making it impossible to deny her," I smile proudly, "What magic do you use?"

"I'm a celestial wizard," she holds up a bunch of gold and silver keys.

"Wow, there's so much magic here that I haven't witnessed before. I know about celestial spirits and their gate keys but I've never actually seen them."

Lucy places the keys on the table in front of me, pointing to each one, giving me their names and abilities. Kirito would love to hear about these. Constellation and zodiac spirits are something that's right up his alley. Sometimes I'm surprised that he didn't become a celestial wizard himself. Then again, by the sounds of it, these spirits are rather fond of the ladies and he probably wouldn't take too kindly to any of them potentially flirting with me.

"Mommy, look at this!" Yui laughs.

I look up to see her holding her own little ball of flames and my stomach flips. I really hope she didn't create that on her own.

"Please tell me you didn't show her how to do that because I swear I'll kick you into next week," Lucy growls.

"I didn't, I swear, I just gave her a bit to play with! Don't kick me!" Natsu cries.

I release the breath I didn't realise I was holding. Lucy wouldn't have been the only one giving him a swift kick.

Mira appears with sandwiches and the novelty of playing with fire is quickly forgotten as Yui jumps back in her seat and chows down.

"Awesome, lunch!" Natsu exclaims, reaching a hand out.

"Not for you!" Lucy smacks him on the side of his head.

"Hey, no violence!" Natsu whines, "Yui said so."

Lucy looks at Yui, waiting to be scolding for fighting but she looks at the two of them with a blank expression and swallows her mouthful of food before speaking, "You deserved it."

Natsu's mouth drops open and I purse my lips, trying not to laugh out loud.

"I agree," Gray nods, "You don't take people's food without asking, smoke for brains, maybe I should hit you too just to hammer the message home."

"Try it, ice princess, I dare you," Natsu growls.

"I don't know if they're going to last much longer," Lucy sighs, "They've got too much magic energy to keep it all in."

"What'll you do about it, huh?" Gray snaps back.

"You may have to just let them have their fight, Yui," I say, "He did promise not to really hurt his friend but you never said they couldn't practice their magic on each other. We don't wanna stop them having fun, do we?"

Yui shakes her head.

"I would advise finishing your lunch first so we can go and sit in a corner somewhere," Lucy grimaces, "Once they start, everyone else might decide they want in on the fun too and we really don't want to get in the middle of that."

I look at the ever-growing angry aura around the two boys, "It does look like something better watched at a distance."

They remind me of Kirito and Klein. Those two were always fighting like brothers and it was impossible to stop them. Not even Yui couldn't prevent their outbursts, yelling about who was stronger and who had better magic energy stamina. I smile sadly. It's a fond memory of something I can never get back. I miss it so much.

"You ok, Asuna?" Lucy asks.

"Yeah, I was just thinking."

"Penny for your thoughts."

"It's nothing much, just thinking how strange this guild is, in a good way."

"Well, the strange comes with the guild mark so it will get to you eventually. After all, you're one of us now."


	3. Team Natsu

"Are you sure this is ok?" I ask for the third time. Maybe the fourth.

"Of course, stop being so worried," Lucy hands me two soft pillows, "I would never forgive myself if I knowingly let you spend your money on a hotel when I have a spare bed going for free."

"I know but I feel like we're intruding."

"I promise you you're not. I invited you."

She has a point. It would be rude to argue any further but I can't help but feel like a burden. Lucy's known me for all of half a day and she's taking Yui and me in without a second thought. She's some sort of angel, I'm sure of it. To be so caring and put up with Natsu and Gray without murdering them both, there's no other explanation.

"Thank you," I say for the millionth time today.

"Don't sweat it," she beams, "The bed isn't that big so it might be a squeeze but I don't mind taking the spare and you can have my bed. I've told Natsu you guys were staying so there's no chance of finding a third body if you sleep in there."

"No, no, that one is fine. Yui and I huddle up anyw...," I stop, revisiting her sentence, "Wait, Natsu sleeps in your bed? Are you two a couple?"

"What?! No! Don't be ridiculous!" Lucy cries, a blush covering her whole face, "He just sneaks in through the window because he likes how comfy my bed is."

"Isn't that called breaking and entering with borderline harassment?"

"If he gets caught, I kick his butt back out the window."

"You've got one strange friendship there."

She doesn't reply with anything but a shy smile. Friendship? Yeah, whatever. She can deny it all she wants but that shade of tomato is a dead giveaway. I suppose not everyone's relationships bloom as smoothly as mine did with Kirito. I glance over to Yui who's staring intently at Lucy. I nudge her and shake my head.

"Tadah!" Lucy holds her hands out towards the low bed.

"Yay!" Yui cries and jumps onto the soft mattress.

"Yui, don't bounce on it, you don't wanna break it," I say.

"If you want to use the bath or shower then feel free," Lucy points towards a door next to the archway leading to the kitchen, "I have plenty of towels and I can find you some pyjamas if you need them."

For the last week Yui and I have been bathing in the cold waters of lakes and slow rivers. The idea of having a proper bath sounded like the greatest thing in the world.

XXXXXXXXXX

I sink into the hot water, sighing with happiness as the steam envelopes me. Yep, this is heaven. I let out the braids in my hair and dip my head backwards to wet it.

Lucy has a wealth of bubble baths, shower gels, bath bombs, shampoos, conditioners and hair masks, everything a girl could ever dream of. It wouldn't be an understatement to say she treats her body like a temple. I could bet 100j her hair would be smoother than silk and her skin softer than down feathers, but I'm not gunna go and feel her up to check. I pick a shampoo, one that claims to repair split ends, and massage it into my scalp.

I lean back into the water and stare at the tiled ceiling. I wonder what Kirito is doing now. I can't believe a whole month has passed and I've not even heard a whisper of Laughing Coffin. I know dark guilds tend to stay hidden and keep to themselves unless they're carrying out some sort of vile plan but for so many people to have never even heard of them, it almost seems hopeless. But I won't give up. I'll never give up. Not until I find him.

I hear a knock on the door, "Asuna, are you ok in there?"

I sit up. How long have I been laying here? "Yes, I'm fine."

I finish washing my hair and body and step out the bathtub. I could have stayed in there forever but Yui needs to get clean and get to bed at a reasonable time.

I send her in after me and sit on the bed in the bunny-print pyjamas Lucy lent to me, towel drying my hair. Lucy lays on her bed next to me and props her head up on her hand.

"So, Asuna, we've been talking almost all day but I don't actually know that much about you. Mind if I'm nosey?"

"Ask away."

"Is Yui your real daughter? Tell me if I'm being too invasive."

"It's ok. No, she's not. Kirito and I found her, wandering in the woods. She'd lost all her memories which made things difficult when we tried to find her parents. We went to the nearest town and asked around but no one had seen her before and we found it hard to believe she would have been from anywhere else because the next town wasn't for another five miles. We were heading that way anyway but no one knew her there either."

"Did she ever get her memory back?"

"No but we heard about a raid on an underground child slavery operation. It wasn't far from where we found her so we assume she'd actually escaped from there."

"That's awful."

"I have a feeling she was there for a while. It would possibly explain why for a girl who's nine, she acts much younger than she is."

"I did kinda notice that. So, did she decide on her own that you were gunna be her new parents?"

"Pretty much. At first we went along with it for her sake but after a while we just started to feel like a family. She didn't want to leave us and we didn't wanna let her go."

"That's so nice. I'm guessing Kirito is her dad?"

"Yeah."

"And he's your boyfriend?"

"Fiancé," I hold up my hand to show her my engagement ring.

She takes my hand and moves it to watch the small diamond sparkle in the light, "Where is he?"

Her big, brown eyes hold the slightest hint of regret for asking about him. It's obvious she can tell that having a confirmed fiancé that's missing from the scene spells issues. But, with all the kindness she's shown me, she deserves to know how I ended up sleeping in her spare bed. So I told her. I told her everything I told Mira and then some. She's crying by the end of my story.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through such a terrible experience," she sobs, throwing her arms around me.

"Please, don't be sorry," I wrap my arms around her.

"Mommy, is Lucy ok?" Yui appears through the bathroom door, "Why is she sad?"

"Don't worry, Yui," I say.

Lucy pulls away, sniffing and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. We're all quiet for a moment until Yui plops herself down beside me.

"Mommy, can I brush your hair?"

I nod and reach into my bag, producing a hairbrush. I turn to face my back towards her as she gently runs the prongs through my long hair. Lucy watches us, smiling.

"I wanna help you," she says.

I tilt my head towards her, "You do?"

"You'll help us find Daddy?" Yui gasps.

"Yes. If you'll let me, I'll talk to my team, I'll tell them your situation and we'll help you find Kirito."

"Would they really want to help?" I ask, worried to get my hopes up.

"If you join Team Natsu, you can come with us and we can look for leads and clues on every job we go on. They'd never turn down the opportunity to make some bad guys pay for their crimes."

"I don't know, I don't want to just..."

"You should do it, Mommy," Yui interrupts, "Lucy will be upset if you say no."

"She's right," Lucy nods, "You'd be an awesome addition to our team."

My heart swells with happiness. Do the good things that come from Fairy Tail have no end? I hope not.

"Wait, what about Yui?" I ask, "I'm not taking her on any jobs."

"There's plenty of people in the guild who would make great babysitters. Mira is top-notch at looking after kids. After all, she has plenty of experience dealing with Gray and Natsu," Lucy giggles, "Honestly, you have nothing to worry about."

"You ok with that, Yui?" I ask my tiny stylist, whose standing on the bed to tie my braids in for me.

"Mmhmm," she nods, tongue sticking out the side of her mouth in concentration.

"That settles it then, tomorrow you join Team Natsu!" Lucy beams, "Get some sleep, you're gunna need it."

XXXXXXXXXX

I stretch my arms above my head as we walk along the river with Yui skipping ahead of us, "I haven't slept that well in a long time."

"I'm glad," Lucy says, hooking her arm round mine, "Always good to start the day on a cheerful note."

"Incoming!" A voice yells to our left.

Not a second later, a blue cat comes flying, literally flying, out of seemingly nowhere. I dodge out of the way but Lucy doesn't move in time and the feline hits her in the side of the head. She cries out in surprise, releasing my arm and stumbling sideways, threatening to fall into the river. Luckily for her, I have fast reflexes and I grab her wrists before she goes over the edge.

"That was close," I breathe, pulling Lucy to her feet.

"HAPPY!" she yells, an angry vein popping up on her forehead, "WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR, YOU STUPID CAT?!"

"Sorry Lucy, Natsu was chasing me and I wasn't looking where I was going," he apologises.

"Kitty!" Yui cries.

I'm too dumbstruck to pay much attention to what they're yelling at each other. A flying, talking cat was not something I can say I've come across before. I really don't know how I should feel about this. I want to pet him but will he be offended because it would be treating him like a normal cat? Once again, cool, calm and collect has left my system.

"Why can you fly?" I blurt out.

"Because I'm an exceed, of course," Happy replies, sounding as though I'd asked a stupid question.

"Happy, Asuna doesn't know about Edolas so all she's seeing is a weird cat," Lucy snaps.

"Hey guys!" Natsu calls out, skidding to a halt next to us, "Man, Happy, you got really fast!"

"Natsu, I really want to murder you," Lucy states.

"She doesn't," Yui says, reaching up to pat Happy on the head. I guess he doesn't mind then.

"Eh, she always says that," Natsu shrugs, "Are you guys gunna hang around at the guild or are you gunna take a job?"

"Actually, Natsu, I was thinking Asuna should join Team Natsu," Lucy says, "Since we're down a member for now and she's new, I think it would benefit all of us."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Natsu grins widely.

No wonder Lucy's fond of him. That smile is the dragon-slayer equivalent of Yui's and almost as dazzling. Yui's smile will always be the best though.

"I wanna be part of the team too but Mommy said I'm too little," Yui huffs.

Natsu crouches down to her level, "Well, you are pretty small but you could be a real special part of it, like... a manager! So we have to report to you after every mission and you get to tell us what a good job we've done."

"And punish someone if they destroy anything," Lucy adds.

"I get enough punishment from you, Luce. You kick me or punch me in the face almost every time," he exclaims, "Anyway, Yui, you wanna be our manager? We could use one."

"Yeah!" She says gleefully.

"Awesome," Natsu laughs, scooping her up and placing her on his shoulders as she squeals in delight, "This means you get the best seat in the house."

"We're not in a house, silly," she laughs.

Natsu doesn't answer. He probably doesn't have an answer.

"He's good with kids," I say.

"That's because he's a massive child himself," Lucy rolls her eyes.

They walk a few feet in front of us and as I watch, in my mind Natsu's short, sleeveless jacket becomes a long, black coat. His scarf disappears and his pink, spiky hair turns into smooth, black locks. The corners of my eyes tingle as my imagination sees Kirito carrying his little girl along the street. I feel a hand on my shoulder and I turn to see Lucy's concerned face, chocolate-brown eyes boring into my own.

"Sorry, did you say something?" I ask.

"Yeah, I asked if you were ok," she says, "You spaced out for a moment."

"I'm fine, I just...," I take a deep breath, "The way he acts, it reminds me of Kirito. Yui misses him a lot and seeing her like this, it's comforting. I'm not saying she's seeing him as a stand-in but he's a good distraction, I guess.

"Natsu has the ability to spread his cheerfulness to those surrounding him. He doesn't even realise but he can be contagious," the hint of a smile tugs at the corners of Lucy's mouth.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Since you're the newbie, you can pick what job we do," Natsu says, showing me the request board.

There are so many plastered all over it. From something as simple as finding a magic bracelet to judging a dancing competition. What do I pick? An easy one? No, all the easy ones have a minimal pay-out. Lucy told me her rent is 70,000j and considering she's letting Yui and I stay there until we have enough to get our own place, I should pick something that contributes to that.

"What about this one?" I point to one of the posters at the top.

Lucy inspects the request, "A mountain village is looking for some strong wizards to rid them of the 'demons' plaguing them."

"Sounds easy enough," Gray nods, "What's the pay?"

"90,000j!" Lucy exclaims.

"What do you think, manager?" Natsu asks Yui, who's still sitting on his shoulders.

"Lucy said you're all really strong and Mommy is really strong too so I think you should go get those demons," she says confidently.

"You heard the lady! Let's do this!" Natsu grins fiendishly, clearly excited with the idea of a fight.

Lucy tears down the request and places it on the bar, "Mira, we're taking this one."

"Ok," Mira says, taking the poster.

"Also," Lucy adds, "Could you do a big favour and look after Yui while we're on this job? She's too young to come with."

"Of course I can. She can help me out."

"Thank you, Mira, I owe you," I say, "Hear that, Yui? You get to do a job too."

"Really, Mommy?" she gasps.

Natsu leans down for her to reach solid ground and she rushes to hug me.

"You have to promise to be really good for her though," as if she would be anything else.

"I will, I promise."

"Good girl," I crouch down and squeeze her tightly, "I'll try and be as quick as possible."

"Be careful, Mommy."

"I will," I kiss her forehead, "I promise."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Is he gunna be ok?" I stare at Natsu as he lays across the seat with his head in Lucy's lap, completely blue in the face.

"Yeah, he always does this," she sighs, "Normally we have Wendy with us to cast the Troia spell on him but we're meeting her half way because her and Carla went on a sight-seeing trip."

"I have no idea who those people are or what a Troia spell is."

"Wendy is another member of Team Natsu. She's a sky dragon slayer and the Troia spell can actually relieve the symptoms of motion sickness."

Another dragon slayer? This is one well-equipped team, "That's pretty neat."

"It's handy for sure. It means I don't have to deal with him drooling on my legs as often."

Gross.

"And Carla?"

"Carla is..."

"The most beautiful girl in the world!" Happy exclaims, hearts in his eyes and a dreamy expression on his face.

"Don't interrupt me!" Lucy hits him on the head with her fist.

"I can't wait to meet them," I say, smiling as Lucy's hand settles onto Natsu's head, gently stroking her fingers through his hair. I look at Gray, who's just starting out the window. Am I the only one seeing this?

"I think I'm gunna hurl," Natsu groans. Poor guy.

"Don't you dare throw up on my skirt," Lucy warns, "Go outside the carriage if you're gunna do it."

The train starts to slow as we pull into the next station. As soon as it halts, Natsu sits up, looking relieved.

"Finally," he breathes.

Lucy swivels and peeks over the back of her seat, waving and calling out, "Wendy! Carla! Over here!"

A young girl with long, dark blue hair in pigtails wearing a stripy, yellow and green dress jogs over to us. Following closely behind her is another, what did Happy say he was? An ex-something. Crap. I'll ask later. This flying feline has sleek, pristine white fur and is definitely as pretty as she was made out to be. Neither seem to notice me.

"Not a minute too soon. Please, cast the Troia spell on me before my breakfast comes back up," Natsu begs.

"Do you have to be so graphic?" Carla huffs, her voice as graceful as the dress she's wearing.

"Carla, I brought you a fish!" Happy holds out a small mackerel towards her.

"Tomcat, how often must I tell you that I don't want your fish?"

The poor cat looks crestfallen as Carla passes him and sits next to Lucy. Wendy seats herself opposite Natsu and I watch in awe as she places her hands on either side of his head and they begin to glow a beautiful shade of light blue.

"Great, maybe he'll stop whining now," Gray grumbles.

"Those are fighting words, popsicle head," Natsu growls.

"Yeah, so what? If you start a fight, I'll just tell Yui," Gray smirks. I'm not sure how I feel about my daughter being used as a threat.

"Who's Yui?" Wendy asks.

"She's Asuna's daughter," Natsu says.

"Who's Asuna?" Wendy looks even more confused. She must have been so determined to stop Natsu's motion sickness from starting up again that she completely bypassed me.

"That would be me," I say, leaning forward so she can see my face from the opposite side of Gray.

"I'm so sorry, I saw your armoured breast-plate in the corner of my eye and I thought you were Erza," Wendy explains.

My breath hitches. Did she just say… no, there's no way.

"Did you… just… say… Erza?" my voice shakes.

"Yeah, she's the missing member of our team," Lucy nods, "I thought I mentioned her name before, sorry. Why? Do you know her?"

"Erza is…," I hesitate as they all stare at me.

"Does she scare you too?" Natsu asks, cocking his head to the side.

"No," I shake my head, "Erza is… she's my sister."


	4. She's Your What?

Everything goes quiet between us, the only sound is the train moving down the track. The whole team stare at me, jaws dropped and eyes wide. Lucy is the first to break the silence.

"You've gotta be kidding, right?"

"Erza doesn't have a sister!" Natsu cries.

"Not that we've ever heard of," Gray adds, "Are you sure, Asuna?"

"I could be wrong about the person, it might not be the same Erza but I do have a sister and apparently that's her name."

"What do you mean when you say 'apparently'?" Lucy asks.

"All I know is what my late parents told me," I'm suddenly worried about my credibility, "They never hid the fact I was adopted but they also never told me anything about my past. When they died, they left a letter telling me everything. Where I came from, how I came to be their daughter and as much information as they had on my biological family. Cliché, I know."

"And Erza's name was mentioned," Lucy guesses.

"Yeah," I pause, "Did your Erza come to the guild as an orphan?"

Gray and Natsu both nod and say, "Yes."

"Did she tell you where she came from?"

"She didn't open up for a long time but more recently we got the whole story," Gray replies. I tense in my seat, "I don't know if she'd be comfortable with us telling a...," he quiets as I grab his hands. They're so cold.

"Please, tell me. I have to know."

His dark eyes express his reluctance as they stare into mine.

"I don't see any harm in telling her," Natsu shrugs.

"How about this, I'll tell you what the letter said and you can confirm or deny the information in relation to... your friend," I can't say her name again.

"Ok, I can do that," Gray nods, squeezing my slowly numbing fingers.

"If Juvia was here, she'd freak out if she saw another girl holding Gray's hands," Lucy murmurs.

"My parents said I originally came from a village that was attacked by soldiers, followers of a corrupt cult who stole all the children and murdered everyone else including my real parents."

Lucy, Natsu, Happy and Gray exchange uneasy glances but Wendy and Carla appear to be wrapped up in my story. Maybe they aren't clued up like the others.

"If all the children were taken, how comes you weren't caught?" Lucy asks.

"I was found under a collapsed housing structure. To be honest, it's nothing short of a miracle I survived because according to the rescue team, physically I came out with nothing more than a bump on my head. But it turned out there were some significant side effects from that bump and I lost pretty much everything."

"You don't remember any of it?" Gray asks, "I mean, you can't be much younger than Erza, surely you'd recall something."

"My memory is still fuzzy to this day," I shake my head, "I couldn't even remember who I was when I came to my adoptive parents. All I can remember is seeing that burning house falling down around me and people screaming outside. The only reason I know my real name is because there was another survivor; Kagura. Apparently we were playmates and my sister, Erza, was best friends with her older brother."

"Was there anything else?" Lucy quizzes, "Like who her brother was, what your last name is or your birthday, maybe even something about your real parents?"

"No," I whisper. I hang my head low and release my grip on Gray's hands, covering my face to hide the tears welling up, "She must have been taken to a new family before they could get anything else from her. I have no idea who my real parents were. I... I can't even remember what they look like."

"Hey, don't cry," Lucy moves to perch on the small space next to me and puts a soothing hand around my shoulders.

"Is that all the letter said?" Gray bends his neck to look under my fringe.

"No," I sniff and shake my head, "There was one more thing. It said there was a surge of people who were originally thought to be lost or dead that suddenly showed up again later in that same year, claiming they'd escaped from horrible slavery. A few of them turned out to be children from villages that had suffered the same fate as mine so my parents attempted to find my sister but nothing ever came of it. I guess that's why they never mentioned her before. They didn't want to get my hopes up."

"Did it say where they escaped from?" Lucy urges me.

"I don't think naming the place will make a difference," Natsu says, "It's pretty obvious that her story matches up. I mean, come on, destroyed village, stolen children forced into slavery and escaped orphans. Do you really think any other Erza is gunna have that story?"

"For once, he's right," Carla chimes in, "I don't know the story in detail but if it's such a good match, it's highly unlikely we're talking about two different people."

"What do you mean 'for once'?!" Natsu growls.

"Shut it, flame brain, we're being serious here," Gray snaps, "Carla's right. Your story does match up."

My eyes flick from Gray to Natsu, then from Natsu to Lucy and from Lucy to the floor. Could it be? Could I have finally found my sister? It's been so long since I tried to look for her.

After meeting Kirito, I stopped searching because I'd found someone I was happy with and in turn they were happy with me. Then Yui came along. The little girl who needed me, needed us, because she had been thrown into the same unfortunate boat as me: no memories and no one to go to. And like my adoptive parents had done for me, we provided her with a family. So what started as a lone journey with a singular goal, turned into an adventure with endless possibilities. I hadn't needed to find her but here I am, sitting on a train, clueless I was surrounded by her best friends.

"Is there something wrong? You look upset. Aren't you happy about this?" Wendy asks.

"I don't actually know how I feel right now," I admit, "There's so much going through my head. I think I am happy but I'm more surprised than anything else, shocked even. This is the last thing I would have expected to happen and it's a bit much."

"There's just one thing that's bothering me," Lucy says, "If Erza has a sister, why wouldn't she have mentioned it to us?"

"Think about it, Erza hasn't said much about any of her biological family full stop. Her last name isn't real and she doesn't appear to know what the original one was," Gray says thoughtfully, "Maybe she lost her memories of you too but through some sort of trauma."

"Or she thinks I'm dead," I say.

"I think the best plan of action is to try and cast aside your current state of mind for the time being," Carla says matter-of-factly, "We can't do anything about this until we get back and dwelling on it might well cause you to lose focus and risk getting hurt on this mission."

"Could you be any more insensitive?" Gray frowns.

"No," I say, "She's right. Until I meet her face-to-face, there's nothing I can do. Focus is key for my magic to work and if I lose that, I'm useless."

XXXXXXXXXX

"It's been so long since I last went on a job, I'm kinda nervous," I say as we stroll from the station to the village, my earlier emotional state is tucked away. I'm good at that: hiding negative feelings. I do it so often for Yui, it's almost second nature now.

"What was the last job you did?" Lucy asks.

"A re-enactment of a duel between knights for a festival," I reply.

"That sounds like fun!" Wendy exclaims.

"Yeah, it was," I smile, remembering how Yui had cheered for both Kirito and I on the side-lines while the crowd egged us on. That was a good day.

"Hey, look, we're here," Lucy says, pointing down the hill to a group of houses surrounded by fields full of crops and farm animals.

As we near the village, I notice that some of the houses are in disrepair. Huge holes, big enough to fit a wagon through, are in the walls.

"Oh man, it looks like something big went on a rampage through here," Gray says.

"This is so exciting!" Natsu grins.

"Natsu!" Lucy scolds, "There's nothing exciting about this! Can't you see what's happened to these poor villagers? Their homes have been destroyed!"

"Hey!" a voice calls out. In the distance we can see a man running over to us.

"That must be our greeting party," I say.

When he reaches us, the man is completely out of breath and barely able to string a sentence together through his panting, "You guys... you must be... the wizards... from Fairy... Tail."

"You got it," Lucy nods.

"Well... thank goodness... not a... a moment too soon."

The man explains the situation to us as we walk down to the village. He tells us that a few weeks ago, a huge, horned demon made its home in the mountain caves nearby and started terrorising the village, stealing their livestock, smashing through houses and trampling their crops. They aren't close to any big towns or cities so they have to rely on themselves to live: growing their own vegetables, raising their own animals and building their own homes. Rebuilding isn't a problem but if food were to become scarce, they'd suffer great losses.

"That's terrible," Wendy says.

"Yes," the man nods, "We hoped the creature would move on but it appears to have settled in permanently. That's why we requested help."

"Don't worry, we're Fairy Tail's strongest team, we'll take this monster down!" Natsu grins, "Just point us in the right direction!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Do you think maybe it's just a really big Vulcan? I don't really like the idea of fighting a demon," Wendy frets as we walk along the overgrown path to the mountain where we were told the creature lives.

"I've never heard of a Vulcan that looks the way he described this 'demon' to be," I say thoughtfully, trying to remember all the different types I've come across, "I don't know why you're worrying though. After everything you told me about your magic, this should be a breeze. Besides, you have all of us with you."

"It doesn't matter what it is, demon or not, it's our job to take it down," Gray says determinedly.

"Yeah! I'm all fired up!" Natsu exclaims, punching his palm.

Just as the man told us we would, we find an enormous opening on the side of the mountain leading into a cave of unmeasurable depth. Low growls can be heard from inside.

"That doesn't sound ominous at all," I say, trying to alleviate the tension in my stomach.

"Come on, guys!" Natsu cries, rushing into the darkness.

"Shouldn't we make a plan first?" I ask.

The only answer I'm met with is a united chuckle from the team. Obviously this is another common occurrence along with the unwanted demolition services. We take off after him with only the sound of his footfalls to follow in the darkness. I grab a thick branch of dead wood as I take the rear.

When we finally catch up to him, he's standing still, sniffing the air, "It's close."

"Here, light this," I offer him the end of the branch which he holds a flaming hand to.

From the moment it's lit, we find out just how close we are to our target. No more than thirty feet away from us and standing at least eight foot tall is a creature with a long snout filled with a set of razor-sharp teeth. Two curved horns jut out from the sides of its head. Its upper body looks just like a muscular human male but its lower-half is covered in fur and resembles something akin to a goat or sheep with large, split hooves.

"Whoa, that thing really is a demon!" Lucy squeals.

"It's huge!" Happy exclaims.

"The bigger they are, the more fun they are to beat up," Natsu cracks his knuckles.

"Pretty sure that's not the saying," Gray says.

"Shut up, snowflake."

"Don't tell me to shut up, smoke for brains!"

"Both of you shut up!" Lucy snaps.

"Yes ma'am!" they say shakily in unison. She must deal out some pretty bad punishment if they fall in line that easily.

The creature approaches us, its footsteps causing the ground to shake. The boys waste no time. Gray smashes his fist into his palm, commanding ice-made lances. Spears of ice fly through the air, reflecting the dancing flames of Natsu's fire that spills from his mouth in a powerful roar. I watch in awe. I've never seen magic like this in action before. With Wendy acting as their healer, the boys are able to keep up with the creature. Even with its heavy fists delivering blows to their bodies, they regain composure with ease, coming back at it with a flaming punch to the gut and an ice-made… cannon… right. But it's not long before the continuous use of her magic starts to take its toll and she drops to her knees.

"You must rest, child," Carla insists.

"But they need me," she says.

"Don't be ridiculous, you'll be no use to them if you carry on like this," the white cat folds her arms, "I forbid you to use any more magic until you recover some of your energy."

"I'm sure they'll be fine for a little while," I reassure her.

As if the world solely wants to prove me wrong, both Natsu and Gray come barrelling towards us, smashing into the cave walls either side of me and Lucy.

"This guy is tougher than he looks," Natsu groans, trying to pull himself out of the rock.

My time to shine.

"Don't worry guys, I've got you covered," I rush forward, drawing my rapier. I need to aim for a weak spot, no messing about with limbs. I leap into the air, planning to dive down at an angle into its midsection instead of attacking head-on. I bring the blade over my head.

"Asuna, watch out!" Gray yells.

I'm too slow on my downward strike and the creature swings it's arm, knocking my rapier and causing me to spin sideways. I cry out as its other arm slams into my gut, sending me careering back. I hit the floor and roll across the dirt.

"Oh my gosh, are you ok?!" Lucy cries, rushing to my side.

"I... I think so," I slowly push myself up onto my hands and knees. Damn, that hurt.

Lucy ducks her head under my arm and helps lift me to my feet. I wince as I straighten my body. Natsu and Gray have already jumped back into action. Gray swings an ice-made hammer, striking the side of the creatures head. It shatters as it makes contact with its horns, spraying us with ice shards that are quickly melted as Natsu's fire swirls around the cave, passing us in a whoosh of hot air. The creature lets out an almighty bellow and with it a blast of something similar to a wind magic attack is released. Both boys are taken off their feet and fly back towards us to create brand new craters in the wall.

"I just remembered something," I step away from Lucy and pick my rapier again, holding it level with my eyes and aiming it at my target.

"Asuna, wait, you're hurt!" Lucy says.

I ignore her, "Wendy, I know you're tired but do you reckon you could use one of your sky dragon attacks?"

"I can probably manage that," she nods.

"Great," I smirk, "I'm gunna run straight for this demon and when I jump, I want you to aim it directly at me, ok?"

"Why do you want me to send the attack your way?"

"Just trust me."

I focus, taking a deep breath. Ready. I charge towards the creature, ignoring my complaining stomach muscles, and jump as high as I can.

"Sky dragon ROOOAAAAAR!"

I feel a huge gust of hair behind me, rocketing me forward at an almost scary speed.

"Requip," I shout, "Gleam Eye Sword!"

My iron rapier glows as it alters shape, turning into a large, metallic blue broadsword with a diagonally cut end. I swing it forcefully in a horizontal arc so that I spin, angling to the right. As I get within reach I thrust my arm out, slicing the creature's side as I pass it, narrowly missing the grasp of its sharp-clawed fingers. I keep my footing as I hit the ground.

"Alright!" Natsu cheers.

I feel a rush of confidence and something else, something I haven't felt in a long time. Excitement. But it's not just any excitement. It's the kind I used to get when I was part of a fight that thrilled me with a challenge. This isn't just fending off Vulcans and wild animals, this is a creature I not only need to defeat but want to. And defeat it, I shall.

"Requip! Iron Rapier!" switching back to my normal sword, I take advantage of having the creatures back to me as its howls of pain resound through the cave. I sprint forward and leap into the air again, pulling my elbow back, sword held straight, "Quadruple pain!"

The blade glows, drawing in magic energy from my body and releasing it in four, rapid, pin-point thrusts between the creature's shoulder blades. It turns on its heels, trying to swing for me again, but this time I'm prepared. I land my foot on its back, using it like a springboard and somersault out of its reach.

"That was awesome, Asuna!" Gray calls, "But leave some for us, would ya?"

"Be my guest," I pant, thankful for their eagerness. I'm exhausted already. Clearly out of practice. I slide my sword back into its sheath and jog over to Lucy, Wendy and the exceeds. Yep, I asked again. I couldn't stand not knowing the proper name for their species.

"You did great," Wendy smiles.

"Yes, very well done," Carla agrees.

"Wait 'til you see Kirito," I mutter to myself. Watching the boys fight, I notice an extra member. A tall man wearing a black suit with golden-orange hair that sticks up in tufts, two of which resemble cat-like ears. I point and look at Lucy, "Was he always there?"

"Nope, he's one of my celestial spirits," she replies.

"I didn't see you call a spirit. I'm sad I missed it."

"Oh, I didn't call him. Loke just likes to turn up of his own accord."

"Loke? Never heard of that constellation."

"He's actually Leo but that's a long story."

"Wow, so that's the leader of the zodiac. Kirito will be psyched to meet him."

"I'm sure he will... until Loke starts shamelessly flirting with you and then Kirito will probably just wanna punch him."

"Does Natsu want to punch him with he flirts with you?" I smirk.

"Natsu wants to punch everyone," Carla chimes in, ruining my fun.

"FIRE DRAGON BRILLIANT FLAME!" Natsu holds his hands high above his head, a giant fireball forming around them that he throws down with enormous force. Wow. That's one hot attack.

"REGULUS IMPACT!" I squint as Leo's fist shines like the sun and smashes the creature on the chin. That's one extremely bright attack.

"ICE MAKE LANCE!" Gray is not someone you want to put ice in your drink.

"This is quite a show," I smile.

"Yeah but I think the curtains are about to come down on it!" Lucy points to the cave ceiling where the rocks are starting to shake.

"Guys, stop!" Wendy calls out, "The ceilings gunna fall down and crush us if you keep doing that!"

"What did you say?" Gray shouts back.

His question is answered when a chunk of rock falls and smashes on the ground, missing him by an inch.

"Time to go. I'll see you later Lucy, you can introduce me to your cute friend next time," Leo winks at the two of us before disappearing in a flash of sparkling light.

More rocks fall to the ground, threatening to flatten us. Lucy, Wendy and I all scream and hold onto each other, with Carla and Happy squished between us.

"Natsu! Gray! Can you leave the demon alone already?!" Lucy yells behind her as we start to run, "We're gunna be trapped!"

"But I'm not done with him yet!" Natsu argues.

"Come on, flame brain," Gray grabs the back of his collar and yanks the dragon slayer along as they follow us.

We make a break for the entrance with the creature hot on our trail, it's heavy footfalls causing the cave to shake even more and the ceiling to collapse at a fast rate.

"Ice make floor!" Gray aims his attack at the ground and creates a pathway of ice.

I wish I'd worn better shoes. My legs come out from underneath me and I slide across the ice on my backside at top speed. I'm quickly followed by Natsu, who grabs Lucy for support, only succeeding in dragging her down with him. The ground shakes with the force of an earthquake. I twist round, trying not to touch any bare skin on the ice, and catch a glimpse of a wall of rocks behind us. The whole ceiling has come down on the creature, either trapping or killing it. Mission accomplished.

Cold air hits me as I'm launched off the end of the ice floor and out the cave entrance. I scream as I fly through the air and land in a bush. I struggle to pull myself out, flailing like a fish out of water. I'm the first to escape the foliage.

"Ouch," Lucy grumbles, appearing from the leaves, rubbing her head.

"I hate slides. I think I'm gunna be sick," Natsu's voice mumbles from somewhere... underneath...

"Lucy, are you sitting on Natsu?"

Her eyes widen and she jumps up.

"Could you at least lose some weight before you use me as a soft landing?" he groans. He completely deserve the slap that follows.

I help retrieve the other team members from the bushes, having to pull Happy by his tail to get him unstuck and go on a hunt for his tiny backpack. It's not long before we're making our way back down to the village.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I can't thank you all enough. You've saved our village."

"No problem, old man, we had a blast!" Natsu grins.

"You had a blast, we just have a headache," Lucy scoffs.

"Please, take this," the man hands us our reward money.

"Thank you," I say, giving a small bow.

"If you ever need any more demons to be taken care of, don't hesitate to contact Fairy Tail again," Gray smiles.

XXXXXXXXXX

I lean my head against the window of the train carriage. The movements rock my head gently back and forth. Wendy is leaning against me, asleep, with Carla reading on her lap and Gray is slumped next to the two of us, eyes closed, arms folded and for some reason is only in his pants. Once again, Natsu's hair is being lightly stroked as he lays his head on Lucy's lap with Happy sleeping on his back. Fighting that creature has drained us. Luckily Magnolia is the last station so if we sleep now, we won't miss our stop.

I can't wait to see Yui. I have so much to tell her about the demon and the epic battle and... Erza. My stomach twists. Between the chaos of the mission and the exhaustion, she'd completely slipped my mind. Do I tell Yui about her? Do I wait until I've spoken to Erza first?

"Erza should be back by the time we reach the guildhall tomorrow," Lucy yawns, unlikely to have read my mind but perhaps saw what Kirito likes to call my 'over-thinking face', "Everything will be fine."

I smile as my eyes slowly close.


	5. Reliving the Story

"WE'RE HOME!" Natsu kicks the guildhall doors open. I bet they've had to be replaced a few times.

"Welcome back, you guys," Mira calls.

"Mommy!" Yui comes rushing out from behind the bar.

I crouch down to pick her up, "Hey Yui, did you miss me?"

"Yeah!" she says, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"Was she good?" I ask Mira.

"She was perfect," Mira beams, "The best little helper I've ever had."

"I wrote down people's food orders," Yui says proudly.

"Wow, that's great, Yui!"

"So you're our manager AND you're the ruler of the food orders?"! Natsu gasps in mock surprise, "That's a lot of responsibility."

"Mommy said girls can do lots of things at once and that's why she's smarter than Daddy."

"Yui!" I exclaim, horrified.

Lucy doubles over with laughter. Why must children repeat everything?

"I can do more than one thing at once and I'm not a girl," Natsu says proudly.

"Eating and talking at the same time doesn't count, idiot," Gray mutters.

Natsu turns to face him, "What did you say, ice princess?"

"I said you being disgusting and talking with your mouth full doesn't count as multi-tasking!" Gray shouts.

"I think we should probably get a seat at a safe distance," Wendy says, "They look like they're about to start a fight."

"They're not fighting, they're just practicing," Yui corrects her.

"Either way, we better move," I put Yui down and take her hand, leading her to a small table near the far end of the bar.

We watch the two boys tackle each other, throwing fiery punches and icy kicks left, right and centre. It's not long before they knock into others who decide to get in on the action too. Soon half the guildhall is brawling.

"Hooligans," Carla scoffs.

"Do you think Kirito will join in with this?" Lucy asks.

"That's a good question," I think for a moment. Kirito used to get into fights with Klein all the time but never anything on this scale. It was rare for one person to join in, let alone an entire group. The Knight's Blood members who were present for their scuffles would just sit and cheer for their preferred contender. My mood always decided who I cheered for.

"Do you mind if I ask who Kirito is?" Wendy queries.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I totally forgot I haven't actually told the team anything about your situation yet!" Lucy claps her hand on her forehead, "I'm such an idiot."

"Don't worry about it, Lucy. I think I would prefer to tell them myself now that I've properly met everyone," I say, "I'll do it later though, once we're all together if that's ok?"

"Sure," Wendy smiles and nods.

Once the fight dies down and people return to their seats, Gray and Natsu join us, leaving behind broken chairs and smashed glasses galore.

"Will you put some clothes on, young man?" Carla scolds Gray who's only in his boxers, "There are children present!"

He looks down at himself, "It's not like I'm naked."

It's clear there's no use arguing with his, Carla doesn't answer his statement with anything except an unimpressed huff. I'm going to ask about this weird habit of his at some point but right now, I'm feeling anxious. As the group settles into the matter of splitting the reward money, I look over my shoulder, scanning the room and watching the door.

"What about you, Asuna? Asuna? Earthland to Asuna!"

Someone taps my shoulder and I snap my head back round, "Sorry, what?"

"Are you feeling ok? You totally spaced out on us just then," I don't know how many times Lucy had said my name but she looks concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just tired still. What was it you said?"

"I asked how much you want?"

"How much what?"

"How much of the reward money do you want?"

"Oh, uh, I'll take whatever you guys don't need. I want to put towards your rent since we're staying with you at the moment."

"I've already paid this month's rent and I plan to go on more jobs so for now let's just split it five ways, sound good?"

Everyone nods in agreement.

"I don't need money because Mira gave me some for working so hard," Yui beams. I ruffle her hair playfully, earning a giggle.

I look round once more as Lucy counts out the money.

"She'll turn up sooner or later," Gray mutters in my ear.

"So, Asuna, can you tell us who Kirito is now?" Wendy looks as though she's fit to burst with curiosity.

Part of me wants to wait for Erza to show up. She'll undoubtably want to hear my story and I don't want to go through telling it twice in one day. No matter how many times I tell it, it doesn't get any easier. But there's the chance she'll want to speak in private, in which case I'll have no choice. I can't keep the team in the dark for too long.

However, before a single word can leave my mouth, the guild hall doors swing open. My head turns to see a woman clad from neck to hips in silver armour with a pleated blue skirt and sturdy black boots. Her scarlet hair flows down to her waist, a side fridge partially covering her face. There's a seriousness in her dark eyes.

"Hey, Erza!" Lucy waves to her.

So that's her. Erza. I'm not ready for this. I want to hide under the table.

"Mommy, what's wrong?" Yui tugs my sleeve but I can't answer her. I'm completely frozen.

Erza approaches us and I can't help but stare. Shes so pretty. She's pale, like me. She has the same slightly pointed chin and high cheekbones. I wonder, if she smiles, will it be like mine? Will she sound like me when she speaks? I feel sick.

"Hello everyone," she smiles, it's nothing like mine. Her smile is much wider. I wonder which of our parents we take after.

"How'd your solo mission go?" Gray asks.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, just an over-sized Forest Vulcan causing some trouble for a holiday campsite."

"Why couldn't ours have been that simple?" Lucy groans.

"Because we wouldn't have gotten 90,000j from it otherwise," Gray frowns, indicating towards the five equal piles of money in front of her.

"What are you talking about, Luce? Taking that demon down was a piece of cake," Natsu punches his palm, "I'm still fired up from it."

Is he serious? Did he already forget about the two human-shaped dents he left in the cave wall and the help he had, no not had, needed from his teammates? He must have hit his head harder than I thought.

"Either way, I'm glad to see you're all ok. You did behave yourselves, didn't you, boys?" she scowls for a moment, her eyes flitting between Natsu and Gray.

"Aye!" they say in unison with forced smiles as they lean over the table and hook their arms around each other. Lucy cries out as they knock over the neat stacks of money she spent an unnecessary amount of time on.

"Good," Erza's face instantly softens and turns to look at me and Yui, "I see we have new additions to the guild. And who might you be?"

"I'm... I'm...," I can't even form a sentence. I sound like I'm star struck. I feel someone nudge my leg and I turn to look at Gray who nods reassuringly. I slowly stand, "I'm Asuna. Asuna Yuuki," I bow slightly, "And...," I stare at her. Here goes everything, "I've been looking for you for the longest time."

"Looking... for me?" Erza looks puzzled, "Why?"

"Because you're my... you're my..."

"You're Mommy's sister!" Yui cries out with glee, rescuing my stuttering mess of a sentence.

"What?" Erza utters. Her eyes look like they're about to fall out of their sockets as they scan the group, maybe looking for hints that this might be a joke. I have no doubt that every face behind me is dead serious apart from Yui. She probably has the biggest smile plastered on her face right now. I completely forgot I'd told her about Erza. She must have recognised the name and remembered the story. Her eyes settled back on me, "My sister?"

"Yeah," I nod, starting to well up. Today is going to be a serious sob-fest.

"I... I'm sorry but I don't... I don't recall ever having a... a sister," the last word leaves her mouth in a tone that almost sounds as though she's asking a question, "Forgive me, I don't disbelieve you, it's just..."

"It's ok. I understand it's a hefty statement to drop on you."

"I think we should leave them alone for a while," Lucy murmurs.

"Hey, Yui, wanna go outside?" I can hear the smile in Natsu's voice, "We can play with my fire and Happy can fly you around!"

"Aye sir!"

I hear her gasp in excitement, "Mommy, can I go and play outside?"

"Don't worry, I'll keep a watch on them," Lucy assures me.

I hear them all leave the table with Natsu and Yui taking the lead, rushing out the doors with Lucy not far behind them. Wendy and Carla mention wanting to move to the outside benches to enjoy the sun and Gray mumbles an incoherent excuse of his own.

"So... I guess I should explain," I start, taking my seat again.

Erza pulls up a chair to sit directly in front of me with nothing between us but air. Her armour clinks against the varnished wood as she settles down.

"I'm all ears," she says.

I tell her the story of my adoptive parents and their letter, about the burning house, my memory loss and my missing sister. I tell her about my lone journey, finding Kirito and falling in love and about Yui. Tears flow freely down my face and my voice shakes. I apologise to her for forgetting who she was and who our parents were and I ask forgiveness for ceasing my search for her.

"I should have carried on looking," I wipe my eyes with the heel of my hand.

"No," Erza shakes her head and takes my hands. Her armour-clad fingers are cold against my skin, "You found true happiness and that's not something you should apologise for. Abandoning your search didn't mean you were abandoning me. If anything, it makes me feel better knowing you didn't have to spend months, perhaps even years trying to find me but...," she pauses, her eyes glaze over as tears form in her eyelids, "I'm so glad you have now. To discover I have even more family to share my life with makes me so very happy."

I smile and throw my arms around her neck. Her hair smells like strawberries, it might be her favourite fruit, just like mine. She slowly brings her arms up to return my embrace. Finally, after all these years, I have my sister back.

XXXXXXXXXX

Determined to fill everyone in to the fullest, after sharing our moment, I call the others back to the table, earning a very loud, unhappy sigh from Yui who'd been enjoying the sensation of being able to fly above the guildhall.

I hand over her drawing set and give her a seat at the bar. I have to keep her busy while I speak to the others. Yui doesn't need to hear the story again. She experienced it firsthand and that's more than enough. A group sadness wouldn't be good for her to experience again.

Everyone seats themselves back around the table.

"So what did you wanna tell us?" Natsu asks.

"I want to tell you why I'm really here," I say, "Joining a new guild to support myself and Yui is only half the reason and I have a feeling you won't like the other half but you need to know," Lucy nods at me reassuringly, "I'm here for your help."

"What kind of help?" Gray tilts his head.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure we can handle it. Just tell us what we can do," Natsu smiles. That smile isn't going to last long.

I take a deep breath, "Ok, I'll have to go from the top."

~~~~~flashback~~~~~

"Hey Kirito, I've got a great idea. We should all team up to go on jobs. We can be Team Klein," he moves his hand in a slow arc as if creating a banner in his mind.

"In your dreams," Kirito scoffs, "If we were in a team it definitely wouldn't be named after you."

"Why not?"

"The team has to be named after the strongest member. That would make it Team Kirito."

"Man, don't be ridiculous, everyone knows I'm the better requip mage."

"Oh yeah? How come every time you try and pick a fight with me, you end up getting your butt kicked?"

"I do not!"

"Here we go again," I sigh and roll my eyes.

"Do too and I'll be more than happy to remind you right here and now."

"Bring it on," Klein draws Karakurenai, the katana he always carries on his person, and takes up a defensive stance.

"Alright then," Kirito smirks.

Before he can draw his sword, there's a loud rumble and a crash followed by a thick cloud of dust. I cough and cover my mouth. What the hell was that? It sounded like the wall just came down. I can't see anything but I can hear the other guild member's confused mumblings and... is that laughter?

As the dust settles, my suspicion is confirmed: there's a huge hole in the wall and standing in front of it is a group of around fifteen people, all dressed in black with hooded cloaks that cover most of their faces, all grinning and chuckling in a way that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"Good evening ladies and gents," one of them steps forward, "So sorry to interrupt your little party but we thought we'd drop in to congratulate your guild on becoming official."

"You know, if you wanted an invite, you could have just knocked," Kirito says.

"Kirito, don't," I try to hush him.

"We like to take the idea of gate-crashing more literally but I'll bare that in mind for next time. Not that there'll be one for you."

"I don't know what you think you're doing, pal, but you're gunna have to pay for that wall," Klein clutches his katana, still ready for a fight.

"Klein, shut up," I hiss. Idiot.

"Mommy," Yui wraps herself around my arm, speaking quietly, "These people aren't good. They want to hurt us."

Yui is never wrong about this stuff. Her power to sense things whether it's happiness, sadness or murderous intent, is always one hundred percent accurate. My heart beats faster and my free arm moves closer to my rapier.

"A collapsed wall is the last thing you should be worried about," the man smirks. Not the kind of playful smirk you give someone when you're teasing them or being smug, no, this was evil, "Oh, how rude of us, we should probably introduce ourselves. I'm Vusago and we're Laughing Coffin," he lifts the sleeve of his left arm and shows us a guild mark; two overlapping coffins with a grinning face on the foremost, "We're the guild that's about to wipe you off the face of the planet."

There's another rumble and the wall behind us comes crashing down, sending a second wave of brick dust over us. I hold my breath and cover Yui's face. Another group of fifteen to twenty are waiting for us on the other side. I take a few steps back so I'm closer to Kirito and Klein, making sure Yui is in the middle of us. Kirito and I draw our blades.

She holds on to my arm tighter, "Mommy, I'm scared."

"Don't worry, Yui, I'm not gunna let anything happen to you and Mommy," Kirito utters with a voice full of confidence. He's always been good at hiding fear.

"What are we gunna do?" I ask him, "There's so many of them. They outnumber us two to one at least and for all we know, there could be more surrounding the entire building."

"I don't think we have any other choice but to fight."

"There's so much," Yui shudders, "So much."

This is the last thing I need right now. Whenever there's an overwhelming amount of the same emotion, Yui goes into overload. Happiness isn't a problem, she can release just as much as she takes in. Same with sadness, she can cry it out. But murderous intent, hatred and cruelty? She can't and won't. All it does is build up.

"Yui, please stop," I beg her, "Shut it out, just like we practiced."

"I... I'm t-trying," she strains, still gripping me like a vice. I wince as her small nails dig into my skin.

"You can try to take us down," a commanding voice says, "But you will fail."

"Heathcliff," Klein smiles, "Man, am I glad he's here."

Our guild master steps forward, brandishing Liberator, his renowned requip, a sword and kite shield combination with an etching of our guild emblem on the front. We rarely see it. The look on his face is one of fury and deathly seriousness, "You've made a big mistake coming here and threatening my family."

"A mistake would mean I've made a careless judgement about your guild," Vusago says, "However, the way I see it is that we far exceed you in numbers and strength. You have little to no chance of survival. I don't consider that a mistake."

"Numbers make no difference," Heathcliff states.

"We'll see," Vusago grins.

"Why are you doing this?" someone across the hall shouts.

"Do we need a reason?"

"What? You mean you're... you're just doing this for fun?!" Klein exclaims.

"They're a murder guild," someone gasps.

"I didn't think they really existed," another says.

"Requip; Guardian Knight," Kirito's black long-sword gleams as it takes the form of his favourite blade, a dark purple long-sword infused with shield magic. Yui and I designed it as a birthday present and he greatly favours it for fighting opponents with unknown strength and powers.

From my side, I can already see the Laughing Coffin members gathering magic energy and moving to surround us.

"Yui, I want you to hide under the table for now," I know it's not much, but until there's an opening for her to escape, I can't think of anywhere else to put her that's not in the open.

"I don't want to."

"Yui, please, do as I say."

"Yui, listen to Mommy," Kirito says.

Reluctantly she lets go of my arm and scuttles under the table. I pray no one sees her through the still-lingering dust. Kirito backs up until we're standing side by side, facing in opposite directions.

"We need to keep the fight away from her," he murmurs, "Not too far though. We don't wanna be out of range if someone tries to attack her."

"Don't worry guys, I'll keep an eye on her too," Klein adds.

"Thanks, man. You ready?" Kirito bents his knees, standing sideways with one arm out behind him for balance. Klein and I nod, "Let's go!"

The three of us rush forward. I bring my rapier level with my eyes, aiming for a man directly in front of me who seems to have the most magic energy accumulated. If I take him out first, I shouldn't have to worry about being hit by any strong attacks. The others don't have nearly enough energy gathered to do any real damage and by the time I get to them, it won't matter. They don't call me Lighting Flash Asuna for nothing. I charge my blade and once I'm in range, I thrust it forward, "Quadruple Pain!"

I hit my target. He stumbles back, tripping over the rubble and losing focus. His energy mass dissipates. One down. Pivoting on the ball of my foot, I catch a glimpse of Kirito. His sword is glowing with a purple aura as he swings it forcefully in an upward motion, sending his opponent flying through the air with a shout of, "Screw you!"

"Requip; Wind Fleuret!" I switch to my one-handed sword infused with speed magic and another three bite the dust as my rapid strikes overpower them. I feel like I got the easy pickings, these mages don't seem that strong. Most people would be glad, but as one of the top five in the guild, it worries me. It means someone else is dealing with the stronger opponents. Someone else who might not be able to handle it.

I switch back to my Iron Rapier. As useful as Wind Fleuret is, it takes a fair amount of magic energy to wield continuously. I turn to attack my next opponent but I'm instead I'm met with the view of another guild member falling to the floor. Lisbeth, the most talented magic weapons-forger in Earthland and my dear friend, hits the ground with force. She cries out in pain. I forget the woman I'm supposed to be fighting. Lisbeth sits up and frantically pushes herself along the ground with her feet as she's approached by an enormous man carrying a huge chunk of what was once the wall. She spots me as I run towards them.

"Asuna, help me!" she screams.

I push my legs to move faster and reach out my hand. A sudden flash of light obscures my vision and my whole body locks up as a shock runs through me. I hit the ground hard and there's two of everything. I squint my eyes, trying to focus, and I wish I hadn't.

As I watch the bricks come down on Lisbeth and all I can do is scream. So loud that my ears ring. Another flash of light heads towards me. I shut my eyes and curl my knees up to my chest, waiting for the impact, but something grabs my arm and I'm wrenched backward. My eyes fly open as lightning strikes where I had been laying. An arm wraps itself around my waist and lifts me to my feet.

"You ok?" Kirito holds me close to him.

"Lisbeth," I whisper, staring at the hand sticking out from under the bricks. I can't believe it. She's gone. How many others have gone?

"Do you think you can stand?" his eyes are flitting round, prepared to block any attacks.

I place both feet firmly on the ground and test their steadiness, "Yeah, I can stand."

"Good," he slowly releases his grip on me, "Asuna, I want you to grab Yui and make a break for it."

"No, I won't leave you!"

"Just go! Take Yui and run! I'll catch up with you."

"Kirito!"

"Please," his voice is shaking, "I can't lose you. I'll hold them off until you're at a safe distance and then I'll wait for an opportunity to follow. I'm not abandoning you but I'm also not abandoning our guild. This is how I do both. I promise, I'll come for you."

He's scared. His eyes, whilst he's not looking at me, I can tell they're full of fear. Not for himself, but for us. I grab my sword and rush to where Yui is still hiding. I wrap my hands tightly around her wrist and yank her out from under the table, half-dragging her over the bricks and broken tables, trying to make sure we move fast enough to prevent her seeing any of the bodies on the ground. My legs burn and my lungs ache but I refuse to stop. I won't stop until Yui is safe. Then I can go back and help Kirito. Once she gets her footing, I release her hand as she starts to overtake me.

"Where do you think you're going, girls?"

I skid to a halt and turn round to find myself facing the man who murdered Lisbeth towering over me. Yui stops and looks back at me.

"Mommy!" she calls out.

"Keep going, Yui!"

"But, Mommy!"

"GO NOW!" her hurried footfalls tell me she's obeyed and her sobs tell me if I survive this, I've got some apologising to do.

"She can run as far and as fast as she likes but I'll still catch up to her as soon as I'm done with you," the man cracks his knuckles as they burst into flames.

"You won't lay a hand on her because I'm about to cut them off!" I growl, "Requip; Fatal Scythe."

"Another weapons mage. You sure do like them in your little guild, I wonder if you'll be better than the last one. She was good, but not good enough."

My stomach turns. She?

"What did you do to Yuuki?"

"I'm talking about her in the past tense so you figure it out," he holds both his arms out straight, "Fire spin," a swirl of fire appears, spinning like a pinwheel, and rushes toward me like a burning twister.

I swing my giant scythe in an upward arc, creating a gust of wind that disburses the flames, "You're lying to me. I refuse to believe she would fall to the likes of you."

"You can believe whatever you want. I don't care. You'll find out when you join her in the afterlife. Flame burst!" His fist punches his open palm sending fiery comets hurtling through the air in different directions.

I step forward and putting as much force into my actions as I can muster, "Treble scythe!" I whirl on the spot, focusing solely on the accuracy of my motions, cutting through the fireballs as they cross paths with the curved blade. The three strikes of the attack are just enough. Thank goodness.

His expression is one of anger and something else mixed in; surprise? Maybe he's not used to his opponents who don't put up much of a fight. Opponents like Lisbeth.

"You're stronger than you look, little girl," he starts to grin. Why is he grinning? He was furious a moment ago, "Looks like you're running out of steam though."

Is it that obvious? I've been so set on keeping him at bay that I didn't notice my heavy panting. And my scythe... it's not there anymore. It's turned back to my rapier. That means... oh no... I'm out of magic energy. I can't requip anything else! I'm panicking so much I don't notice another attack coming until it's too late. A huge fireball hurtles towards me. This is it. I failed. I'm about to die and leave my little girl all alone with no one to protect her. I shut my eyes, the heat from the flames scorches my skin and I'm blown backwards. Everything goes black.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Mommy, Mommy, wake up! Mommy, please wake up!" I hear Yui screaming and feel a weight on my chest that's shaking. What's going on?

"Yui," I breathe out.

The weight lifts.

"Mommy! You're awake! Mommy, open your eyes!"

My eyes slowly crack open. Above me I can see the clear night sky. Hundreds of stars dot across it like holes punched into a dark canvas. A face with watery eyes appears and obscures my view and black hair falls around my face.

"Yui," I repeat, my voice is hoarse and weak.

"Mommy, you're alive, I'm so happy!"

"What... what happened?" I was so sure I'd died.

"I used my shield magic."

I stare at her blankly. She used her magic to save me? Which means...

"I told you to run away."

"I'm sorry, Mommy. I got scared so I hid instead. And then I saw that fire coming towards you."

"You made a shield just before it reached me so it looked like it hit me. You're a smart girl, Yui," I slowly lift my slightly singed arm, it feels like a lead weight, and touch her cheek. My clever little girl, "Thank you, you saved my life."

"I love you, Mommy," she lays her head on me and cries.

"I love you too," I stroke her hair.

XXXXXXXXXX

"KIRITO!" I cup my hands around my mouth and shout as loud as my sore throat will allow, "KIRITO!"

Yui is a hundred feet away, calling out for him, "Daddy, where are you?"

My breath catches when I see a familiar mess of reddish-brown hair. I limp over, knowing I'm not going to like what I find. I drop to my knees, hissing as the impact sends a shock of pain up my aching thighs. I stare at the body in front of me.

"Klein," I reach out and touch his stone-cold face. His features blur in a glaze of tears and I clutch my chest as I feel my heart tear open.

~~~~~end flashback~~~~~

"I wandered around for hours just searching. The guildhall was a little way out from the nearest town so it was a while before anyone showed up to help. The only person I found who'd managed to stay alive until they got there was Kirito's friend Agil and he barely made it."

I look around at the team. Wendy's face is buried in her hands, trembling as she takes in shaky breaths. Gray's arm is around her, his forehead on her shoulder and his hair hiding his face. Even after hearing most of the story before, though not in this much detail, Lucy has tears streaming down her face. Erza looks at the floor, her hands gripping the sides of the chair. Natsu is intensely staring down at the table, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists tightly.

"Was that all? Just one?" Erza utters.

"A body count was done, we had to identify some of them, but yes," a full-on sob leaves my throat and I clamp my hand over my mouth. Lisbeth. I'd had to identify nothing but her hand. The townspeople hadn't dared to move the bricks. If I hadn't seen it happen, the only thing I would have been able to recognise was her bracelet she always wore. The bracelet I'm wearing right now. I give myself a moment to calm down, biting back against my pleading lungs before continuing, "A total of three were missing. They still are."

"And one of them is Kirito?" Wendy's voice is barely a squeak through her crying.

"Yeah, another is our guild master, Heathcliff and the last one, I think his name is Kuradeel. I didn't know him very well, though. I can't even remember what magic he used."

"I wonder why they were all taken," Erza ponders.

"I don't know. But one day, somehow, I'll have a home again with Kirito and Yui. That's what gives me the strength to fight and keep fighting until I find him."

Erza grasps both my hands, "I swear to you, we will find Laughing Coffin and bring back Kirito."

"Yeah, we'll make them pay," Gray growls.

"You can count on us!" Natsu punches the air.

"Aye!" Happy cries.

"Thank you, guys. Thank you so much."


	6. Thieves & Lacrima

**I am SO sorry this took so long! Thank you for being patient and thank you so much for all the favourites and follows! I promise I'll try and update a bit quicker next time.**

 **Side note: I recently had a review saying I should replicate seen weapons for this fanfic because otherwise it's a 'UBW clone'. Every single weapon used by Asuna or Kirito in this fanfic are all named after official swords and/or bosses from SAO (e.g. the Gleam Eye sword from chapter 3 resembles the sword that boss used in the anime). I wanted to make as many references as possible so none of the names were pulled out of thin air. Neither were the attacks that couple with said weapons or some of their abilities (e.g. Quadruple Pain is a rapier-specific move from SAO & some special attacks like Howling Octave use fire abilities so in this fic they'd be assigned to a specific blade that's infused with fire magic, etc.). Hope that clears everything up.**

* * *

After telling my whole story, Erza had in return told me where she's been all this time. The Tower of Heaven sounded more like hell. It's horrible knowing I was safe and sound all those years while she was going through that. None of the other children she named rang any bells in my memory, not that I expected them to. I couldn't get enough of the countless stories of her Fairy Tail adventures both in and out of Team Natsu. She made it sound as though those experiences more than made up for the horrors she had suffered. If only there were more hours in the day, I could've listened to them all. Her stories of monsters and beaten bad guys, illustrated of course by Natsu and Happy's over-exaggerations, lifted the sorrow I'd created, bringing happiness back to the circle of friends and making it impossible for Yui to contain her excitement. Thankfully, she's refrained from referring to Erza as her 'aunt', clearly sensing the minor hesitation in their introduction. Powers of empathy can be unnerving, but useful in an already sensitive situation.

We ended up spending the whole day at the guildhall. We were even introduced to a few other members: another team that calls themselves Team Shadowgear and a huge man with white hair and a scar running down one side of his face named Elfman who turned out to be Mira's younger brother. Yui dubbed him 'Giantman' because according to her, he's too big to be an elf. One mortifying statement after another with that child.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So what have you got planned for your day off?" Lucy asked me.

"Well, I wanted to sort a few things out in town but I have no idea where anything is so..."

"That's great! Me too! I can take you on a tour of Magnolia and we can both get our stuff done together!"

"Uh, sure, that's if you don't mind."

"Of course not. So what do you need to do?"

"Well, I wanted to check the prices for apartments. I don't have enough money for anything yet but I want to get an idea of what to aim for. And I want to open a bank account, it would make me feel better storing away some of the money somewhere other than just my purse. If that gets stolen, I'm done for. Plus, it'll make things feel more permanent and stable for me."

"Makes sense to me. Anything else?"

"We need some new clothes."

"Perfect! I love shopping! Not to brag or anything but I know my way around a fashion store."

"Great, so that's our whole day set."

For a girl who likes to look her best before leaving the house, Lucy is surprisingly speedy at getting ready. We're out the door within the hour and strolling along the main streets. She takes us into all her favourite clothing stores. The girl's got taste, that's for sure. It doesn't take us long to get a small, inexpensive wardrobe together. A few pastel dresses, a sweater and a pair of everyday shoes for Yui, two sweaters, a patterned skirt and a white jacket for me along with a set of matching pyjamas for both of us; bunny print, of course.

Inner fashionistas satisfied, we move onto the market stalls. Some I recall from the evening we arrived in Magnolia, especially the one with the stack of shimmering lacrima crystals. Magical items are everywhere; magic stones, hologram letter kits and light pens in a multitude of colours. I treat myself and Yui to a pair of pink, 2x gale-force reading glasses. As we pass by the last few stalls, I notice an estate agent with notices in the window and stop to look. A "for rent" poster catches my eye for a single-floored apartment with two small bedrooms, one bathroom that includes both a shower and a bath, and a joint kitchen, dining room and sitting room, all fully furnished with the basics.

"This place looks nice," I scan across the advert but coming to the bottom of the description, my face drops, "Uh, maybe not for that price."

"120,000 a month for that? No way!" Lucy exclaims, "That's the size of mine and I only pay 70,000."

I sigh, "Looks like I've got a lot of saving to do."

"That's ok, you can stay with me for as long as you need to. I think we should get you a proper bed though. You can't keep sleeping on that old foldable camp bed and we won't all fit in my bed, especially if Natsu sneaks in."

"I still think that's weird."

"It's just annoying."

Definitely weird.

"As nice as a new bed sounds, I think I'll put that on hold for now. You could probably do without something as big as that taking up floor space and saving that money means we get out of your way quicker."

Lucy rolls her eyes, "You're not in my way but you have a point, and with the way we're picking up jobs, being able to afford your own place doesn't seem that far off."

"Yeah, I never knew we'd get another one so soon," I say, "Knight's Blood didn't get much in the way of requests because we weren't official."

Before leaving the guild hall yesterday, Gray had grabbed another hopefully high-paying job from the request board for us. Find and subdue a band of thieves with 10,000j reward for each one caught. We ran it past our pint-sized 'manager' and she whole-heartedly agreed we needed to stop them. The job starts tomorrow and I'm raring to go!

"Being the top guild in Fiore definitely has its perks," Lucy smiles.

XXXXXXXXXX

The train rocks from side to side, swaying us all in our seats in a steady rhythm. Natsu is happily laying his head on Lucy's lap. Wendy had cast the Troia spell the moment we got on the train but he decided his position was too comfy to move from, so now he's watching the sky through the window in the ceiling. I'm still the only one seeing this.

"I'm excited that the whole team is doing this job together," Wendy beams.

"Yes, it should be fun," Erza agrees, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

I skim through the job request again. I've decided to keep every poster we take. Not because I'm some kind of hoarder but the evening Knight's Blood was attacked, Yui had been working on a scrapbook. After losing her memories and knowing I lost mine too, she wanted to make sure that if it were to happen again, we could tell each other stories from it. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in the chaos so I'm going to give her the materials for another one.

The job is taking us almost to the other side of Fiore. The self-titled thief 'guild' have struck twice already, once at a bank and again in a popular restaurant. It doesn't say anything about magic, just regular weapons. It shouldn't, but that knowledge puts me at ease.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ugh, I feel terrible. I'm never doing that again," Natsu groans and falls face down on the ground.

"What's wrong with him?" I ask, "I thought you cast that spell that stops him getting sick."

"It only lasts for a limited amount of time," Wendy explains, "I don't like to cast it more than once because I'm worried he'll build a resistance to it.

"I see. Well, I hope he realises we have to make that same journey again unless he wants to walk all the way back."

"Come on, Natsu," Lucy sighs, hauling him off the floor and ducking under his arm to support his weight. She must be stronger than she looks.

"If he gets too heavy, just drop him and he can catch up with us," Gray says nonchalantly, "He knows where we're staying."

"You're so mean to each other," I say.

"He starts it!" Gray points an accusing finger at the half-conscious dragon slayer.

"You're just as bad as he is, Gray!" Lucy exclaims.

Looks like I opened a can of worms. I speed up my pace to move away from the now bickering duo and reach Erza. We exchange small smiles.

"I'm excited to see some of your skills on this mission," she says.

"Same to you. After everything you told me about your requips yesterday, I'm pretty psyched to see them for myself."

"I don't mean to disappoint you but I feel this job won't require much in the way of requipping. According to the job request, we aren't dealing with any magic. Though, if there's a lot of them we may be able to justify giving a little bit of a show."

"Sounds good to me."

By leaving the accommodation arrangements up to Erza, we managed to get a nice room at a decent hotel. Previous missions she'd carried out in the area meant she was well-acquainted with some of the locals, including the owner of this particular hotel. Lucy, who had carried Natsu the short walking distance from the station, drops the still-whinging pinkette on the floor. We're welcomed by a cheerful desk clerk with short brown hair and think-rimmed circular glasses. We dig through our bags to hand over a small safety deposit, probably necessary considering the living embodiment of destruction, ahem, I mean Natsu is with us.

"Excellent," she says, counting our money and placing it in an envelope marked with our room numbers. She holds out two sets of keys, "Up the stairs, corridor to the left."

"Thank you," Wendy takes both sets and hands one to Gray.

"Oh, by the way," the clerk says as we go to walk away, "I would avoid going out after dark. Be very careful if you do. There was a terrible incident that happened a few nights ago plus there's thieves running around town."

"What kind of incident?" Lucy asks.

"The merchant guild on the outskirts of town was completely destroyed. Rumour has it they were attacked by a dark guild."

A dark guild? Could it be them?

"Excuse me, do you happen to know the name of the dark guild?"

"Sorry, no, all I know is that they used magic and they left no witnesses. It's a similar story to what happened to that wizard guild a few miles away from Oak Town not too long ago."

I feel my insides seize up. It has to be them. I look back at Lucy who by the expression on her face seems to be sharing my concerns. I refrain from saying anything more and follow the others up to the rooms. We booked two; one for the girls and one for the boys.

"I guess you do get to see one of my requips," Erza smiles.

My eyes widen as she uses her magic to change into her pyjamas of all things.

"I never even thought of doing that!" I exclaim, "That's a great idea!"

I'm too tired to bother adding my own pyjamas to my requip inventory tonight so I take the manual approach. The weather is still warm crack open the window. Being on the second floor, I can see over all the houses with a perfect view of the starry sky. I lean my elbows on the window sill and prop my head up, staring out into the night. I wonder if Kirito is looking at the same stars I am. I know if it turns out that Laughing Coffin were the ones behind this most recent attack, there's a chance I can find a clue. Even if it's the slightest hint, I'm willing to hunt it down.

Erza appears beside me, "I know what you're thinking. The attack on the merchant guild rings a lot of bells."

"It's got to be them," I reply.

"They certainly fit the description but we won't know for sure unless we do some more digging. It'll have to wait for now though. We have a job to do."

"Right."

"Come on, get some sleep. You'll need your strength for tomorrow."

XXXXXXXXXX

With the morning comes research. We visited the bank, the restaurant, hunted down as many people as we could that were present at the time of the robberies and investigated what they knew about the thieves. How many were there? Did they say much? Were they the voices of men or women? What were they wearing? Did anyone get a look at their faces? By the afternoon, we've drained the information pool dry. No one knows where the thieves base of operations might be but several people had mentioned some abandoned buildings so that's where we decide to head.

"What happens if we don't find anything?" I ask, worried about the lack of information we have, "All we know is that there were more thieves during the second robbery. All of them appeared to be men and all of them were wearing masks, hoods and dark clothing and carried guns with them. None of them said much and they all went in different directions after fleeing with their reward. It's really not a lot to go by."

Erza opens her mouth to answer but is interrupted by Natsu shouting.

"Hey, what do you guys think you're doing?" he yells.

We all turn our heads. Standing in the middle of the street are four men: two holding wooden bats and the other two attempting to unscrew a door hinge. Upon hearing Natsu's voice, they immediately cease their activity and stare at us like deer caught in the headlights.

"He said, what do you think you're doing?" Gray repeated, stepping forward.

"Run for it!" one of the men shouts, fleeing down the street. The other three are quick to take off after him

"This is going to be too easy," Gray smirks, "What's the betting they're part of the group we're looking for and they're running straight back to their hideout?"

"Only one way to find out," Erza says, "Let's hurry, we don't want to lose them."

"It's obvious those thieves are the amateurs of the group," I say, running beside Lucy and Natsu, "I find it hard to believe they were the ones who managed to hold up a bank and a crowded restaurant. They looked terrified when we showed up. Plus, who the hell tries to break into a house in the middle of the day?!"

It's not long before we come to a rocky gorge. Peering over the edge, we catch a glimpse of the four men fleeing across the valley below into a cave. How cliché. We waste no time making our way down the steep rocks to the bottom and quietly make our way to the mouth of the cave. Inside we can hear a group of voices and the shadows of several figures flickering in the light of a fire. Erza places her finger to her lips and presses her back against the wall as she silently makes her way into the cave. When we're within a few metres of our targets we can see that the cave has a dead end behind them, mostly likely due to a collapse of some sort. Perfect. They're trapped. Confident that we have them right where we want them, we all step out of the shadows.

"Hello, gentleman," Erza says with a smirk, "I hope you don't mind us dropping in uninvited but we've come to bring justice to you scoundrels."

"You said you weren't followed!" one man shouts, turning to the four men we'd pursued to get here.

"W-we thought we lost them, we s-swear," one of them stammers.

"You'll have plenty of time to bicker amongst yourselves when you reach your prison cell," Erza snaps, "Now, you have two choices, surrender now and hand yourselves over willingly or we take you by force."

"I really hope they choose the second option," Natsu grins, punching his palm, "I've got a fire in my belly and it's dying to come out."

The men are silent, staring at us, clearly weighing their options. They have no hope of escape, not with six of us. Eight if you include the... ex... ex-something... Happy and Carla. I'll remember it eventually.

"Allow me to make it easier for you," Erza says. Thirteen swords appear above our heads, each one pointed at a different member of the thief guild. Floating swords? I take a mental note to ask her about that later. Our requip styles may be varied but I can definitely pick up a skill or two from her.

Suddenly, one of the men disappears before our very eyes.

"Where'd he go?" I look around me.

"Guys, watch out. They have a wizard with them!" Gray shouts.

The man reappears behind Lucy, grabbing her by the arms.

"Damn it, he can teleport," I say to myself. This certainly makes this more difficult.

"Don't move or the girl gets it!" the man threatens, pulling a dagger from under his coat and hooking his arm round Lucy's shoulders, holding the blade close to her neck.

For a minute we're all at a stalemate, awaiting each other's next move. Is this guy dumb? He's a teleporter. Why threaten Lucy when he can just hightail it out of here in a split second? Then I spot it. The big pile of stolen jewellery and money. I guess he doesn't want to leave behind his hard work or give it up to us. A decision he'll most likely regret once we're done here.

"Requip: Ebon Dagger," I mutter under my breath, holding my hands behind my back. A small straight dagger appears and I clutch it tightly. I only have one shot at this and if I miss, I could end up hurting Lucy. I move my arm to my side and in a single fast movement fling my arm forward and let the dagger fly, "Rapid Bite!"

As I hoped the blade stays true to the direction I threw it in, not angling away in the slightest but taking the route right into the man's elbow causing him to drop the knife and stumble backwards, releasing Lucy.

"H-how?" the man grimaces, trying to work the dagger out of his joint and hissing in pain as the sharp edge cuts his fingers.

"Awesome!" Gray cries, "I barely even saw that, it was so fast. It was like a lightning flash!"

Lucy jogs to my side, "Thanks, Asuna, I owe you one."

"Don't mention it," I smile.

With the man distracted by the blade wedged in his joint, Natsu charges him. He's clearly furious that the teleporter dared to touch Lucy with bad intentions and his eyes are filled with a fiery rage.

"Fire dragon iron fist!" Natsu's flaming knuckles crash into the man's jaw, sending him careering backwards. He hits the cave wall and slumps onto the ground, face down.

Looking terrified at the ease in which their trump card was taken down by just two members of the team facing them, the rest of the men hold their hands up in surrender and allow themselves to be bound for prison.

"Is he still alive?" I ask, nodding towards the teleporter as I tighten the ropes holding one of the thieves, "He got hit pretty hard."

Gray looks closely at the unmoving man, "Yeah, he's fine. Just out cold."

"Tie him up before he regains consciousness," Erza orders, throwing some rope to him

As we finish binding all thirteen men, we hear the clopping of hoofed feet and the clatter of wooden wheels against hard ground and voices mumbling to each other. Everyone freezes and my hand goes to my rapier. Three men appear in the mouth of the cave with a horse and cart in tow that's carrying what I can only assume is a box of stolen goods. There's silence between us. The three men stare in disbelief for one long moment before sprinting off in the direction of an alleyway in the gorge, leaving their cart behind. I sigh loudly, "I'll go get them."

It's not long before I catch up. Apparently a fifty metre jog is far enough for them to think they'd lost us. There's nothing better than bad guys with no sense. It's been so long since I dealt with idiots like this that I'd forgotten how fun it can be. I clear my throat to announce my presence and all three turn to look at me. Let the fun commence! I take a running start and leap over their heads, landing gracefully behind them. I need to drive them back the way they came. I step forward, drawing my rapier.

"I can handle this," one man steps forward with a smirk on his face, "I dunno who you think you are but you shouldn't try to mess with us, little girl. You don't wanna get hurt, do you?"

I pull back my arm and charge my sword. I won't need any special attacks for this. One straight pinpoint thrust is all that's needed to send the man to the floor. He scrambles to stand up again but another hit throws him back a few more feet. This time he doesn't try to get back on his feet.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you," my voice is level and calm, "But I'll be making sure you face punishment for your crimes and that means I won't hesitate to knock you out in order to drag you back."

He looks worried. Excellent. That's the look I was going for. Just another little push to scare him. One more hit with my sword and he lands at the feet of his partners.

"Don't just stand there, you idiots!" he cries, "Get her!"

The other men shakily draw small daggers. I extend my arm, pointing my blade directly at them.

"You sure you wanna do that?" I ask.

In an instant, they drop their weapons and run back down the path followed closely by the third man. I sheath my blade and smile triumphantly as I stroll back to the cave. When I re-join the group, I find the three men tied up tightly.

"I don't know what you did to them but they came running back here crying like babies," Lucy chuckled.

"Nice work," Erza says, chucking one of the bandits into the cart.

"Y'know what this means, don't you?" Natsu leans in to whisper in Gray's ear but still talking loud enough to be heard. That boy has no volume control.

"No, what?"

"It means Asuna is just as terrifying as Erza is!"

"Come on, guys, I'm not scary. It was just a little threat to steer them in the right direction."

"Straight into the grasp of your even scarier sister."

They both look terrified. I know Erza has a commanding presence and from what I've been told, is extremely good at keeping people in check, but is she really that bad?

XXXXXXXXXX

After collecting our reward money, a 160,000j pay-out, we journey to the opposite side of town a little way from the outskirts to visit where the Golden Apple guildhall once stood.

The place is in ruin, looking like it had suffered hundreds of year of neglect. No one could imagine that just a few days ago it was a pristine guildhall housing travelling merchants from across Fiore.

"This is terrible," Lucy says, looking all around her.

I wander over the fallen bricks and smashed glass, careful with my footing. It looks just like the Knight's Blood guild did after Laughing Coffin's visit. It has to have been them. The poor people here never stood a chance.

I freeze up as images start to flash through my mind. Memories I'm desperately trying to lock away start to surface as I unwillingly recall the aftermath of my own experience. Our guild banner on the floor, torn and dirtied. The cries of anger and hurt. Lisbeth's hand. I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to clear my head.

"Asuna, is everything ok?" I feel Wendy's hand on my arm.

"Yeah, I just... ah," something shiny reflects the sunlight into my eyes making me squint.

I move out of the objects glare and walk towards the source. Shifting a few broken bricks reveals a smooth, translucent gold lacrima about the size of a dinner plate. I pick up the dome-shaped crystal.

"What's that?" Wendy appears by my side.

I inspect it carefully, "I think it's a surveillance lacrima."

"Do you think it has any footage of the attack?"

"If it does, it's no use to us. Look," I hold the lacrima out to her, "It's cracked."

Across the middle of the crystal is a thin line, about four inches long, with several other small splits sprouting from it.

"You should take it with you anyway," she says, "We might be able to find someone who can repair it for us."

I nod in agreement and slip the lacrima into my shoulder bag before we make our way back to the rest of the group.

"Did you find anything?" Erza asks.

"I got nothing," Gray shakes his head.

"Me either," Lucy sighs.

"I found a safe that hadn't been broken into," Erza says.

"How does that help us?" Natsu frowned.

"It means that the people that attacked this place, weren't too bothered about stealing anything

"That settles it then," I say, "It has to have been Laughing Coffin. Everything points to them; the destruction, the needless murders and the lack of thievery. When they attacked us they left behind everyone's wallets and purses, didn't touch the money from the bar and Heathcliff's safe didn't have a scratch on it and that thing contained thousands of jewels."

"I wonder," Erza says thoughtfully, "If they weren't here to steal, what exactly did they set out to achieve by doing this? No one in the guild used magic as far as we know, so they didn't do it for the thrill of a fight."

"What they set out to do is kill," I say, "Doesn't matter who, where or how. It's just indulgence of fantasies."

"What kind of sick people fantasise about this kind of thing?" Lucy shivers.

"They're not people," I reply, scanning across the wreckage once more, "They're monsters."

XXXXXXXXXX

The train ride back is deathly silent. After seeing the miserable state of the Golden Apple guild, the weight of the situation, mine and that of the poor people who suffered a terrible fate at the hands of Laughing Coffin must be looming over their heads. Everyone has the same look on their face. Everyone except Erza. Her expression is more complex and doesn't seem to associate completely with what everyone else is feeling. I switch seats to sit opposite her.

"Is something wrong? Other than the obvious," I ask.

"It's nothing."

"Come on, tell me."

She twiddles her thumbs for a moment, clearly trying to find the right words, "I mean no offence by this but I'm still having a little trouble adjusting to this."

"When you say 'this', you mean us, right?" I watched her for a moment, her struggle for a response is visible on her face, "It's ok. As I said before, it's a lot to take in. We don't have to instantly become close and act like sisters just because we are."

"You're right," she smiles slightly, "Perhaps I'm over-thinking this."

"How about we just start off as friends? We can become close the way friends do; nice and steady."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea."

I smile. To be honest, after all this time, being best friends would probably be as close as we'll ever get to being like sisters. We don't remember each other but we're tied by blood. I don't intend to disregard our connection, but I'll work with what I have.

Leaning back on my seat, I take the broken surveillance lacrima out of my bag and hold it to the light. The crack isn't too deep, maybe it can be fixed. Then again, even if it works, what can it show me? A second-hand massacre viewing? That's not something I want to see.

"Maybe we should hand it over to the authorities and see what they can do with it," Lucy says.

"I did consider that but the only issue is they're not likely to share any information they get from it," I reply, "Whether we're the ones who gave it to them or not, it becomes none of our business as soon as it leaves our possession."

"I could try and weld it together with my fire!" Natsu suggests.

"We want it fixed, not destroyed, Natsu!" Lucy exclaims.

"I'll be careful'" he says innocently.

"You don't know the meaning of that word," Lucy frowns.

"Is there some sort of enchantment for fixing crystals?" Gray ponders aloud, "There must be something. Maybe not for all types but, when it comes to something as important as surveillance lacrima, there has to be a method of fixing them. I'm sure plenty of criminals have broken more than a few over the years and yet they still get caught from recovered footage.

"Couldn't you make a deal with the authorities?" Wendy asks, "You'll hand it over as long as you get to see the footage too?"

"The magic council dislike Fairy Tall enough already. If we ask to see the footage, they'll know we intend to go after Laughing Coffin and inevitably leave a trail of destruction in our wake," Erza sighs.

"Let's ask around the guild. Someone must know something," I say.

XXXXXXXXXX

Upon returning to the guildhall and collecting Yui, we spent the next few hours discussing different methods of fixing the lacrima with the other members of Fairy Tail. Levy hunted through her books to no avail, Gajeel offered a welding service, the Thunder Legion whom I met whilst they paid a brief visit to collect another job request weren't all that helpful either, though Yui seemed to take a liking to Bickslow. I'm not so sure about him but I think his creepy floating 'babies' are affecting my opinion.

"I'm about ready to give up," I say despondently.

"Yeah, my head hurts," Lucy groans, slumping on the table.

"Mine too," Wendy agrees.

"Yeah, me too," Natsu nods.

"You've done nothing but sit and eat!" Lucy exclaims, "How could your head possibly hurt from all this?"

"What's wrong, you guys?" Mira appears beside us, "Some of the others said you've been in here for hours trying to figure out how to fix something. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not unless you can fix this," I hold out the crystal towards her.

She takes it and holds it to the light, "Oh, it's a surveillance lacrima. The crack in it isn't that deep, what do you need it for?"

"I'm hoping it might contain a clue to where Laughing Coffin might be hiding. It could end up being useless but I won't know unless it's fixed," I sigh, "We've exhausted all our options."

"Not yet, you haven't," she replies, handing back the lacrima, "Wait here."

I watch her disappear out the front doors. Less than twenty minutes later, she returns holding something above her head.

"TADAH!" she cries, placing a flat disc that resembles a metal dinner plate on the table. It has a few buttons positioned around the rim.

"What is it?" I ask, intrigued by this new strange object.

"It's a lacrima viewing platform," she explains, "I normally use it for watching recorded home video footage but it should be compatible for anything with that function."

"That's amazing! Thank you so much!" I place the flat side of the lacrima down on the platform.

Mira leans over and presses what I assume is the 'on' button. A small projected screen pops up and she clicks another button. We quietly wait, staring at the screen with anticipation. I cross my fingers. Please, let this work.

"It's working!" Wendy cries.

Everyone huddles round. The picture is in black and white and slightly fuzzy but not completely obscured. My heart drops as I watch. Panicked people running around, frightened faces screaming as they're chased across the lobby. A ball of fire. A flash of lightning. And...

"Wait... is that...," No it can't be. I wind it back and pause it, scrutinising the face of the man on the screen.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" Erza asks.

"Yeah."

"Well, spit it out, don't leave us hanging!" Natsu exclaims.

"I could be wrong but that looks like...," I lean in closer. If I say it, I can't take it back. My voice is almost a whisper, "Heathcliff."

"Heathcliff? Who the heck is Heathcliff?" Natsu's brow furrows in confusion.

"He's our old master. He founded the Knight's Blood guild."

"That's one badass-looking master you've got there," Gray says, "But what's he doing there?"

"Well, he looks like he's fighting," Natsu says.

"Thank you, genius," Gray scowls.

"Shut up, Gray, I was being helpful."

"No you weren't, you were running your mouth without thinking, like you always do."

"Are you two going to keep quiet or am I going to have to settle this debate for you?" Erza growls through gritted teeth. Ok, so she is a bit scary.

"No, ma'am!" they both obediently take seats on either side of me.

I play the footage again and watch the man closely. My stomach flips as I watch him drive his sword through a fleeing man.

"If that's your guild master, why is he killing people?!" Lucy exclaims.

"I... I don't know," I shake my head in disbelief, "This doesn't make any sense, why would he be fighting for Laughing Coffin? They destroyed everything he worked so hard to create but he's helping them bring the same fate to others."

"Are you completely positive it's him?" Erza asks.

"His sword and shield combo is unmistakable. No one else would have it unless they stole it and I would find it hard to believe someone who happened to look identical to him took it. It's Heathcliff. I don't want to believe it, but it's him.


End file.
